You know what I miss? New episodes of my favorite TV shows. “30 Rock,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Brothers & Sisters,” “Pushing Daisies,” “Heroes,” “Samantha Who?” Need I go on? The list of shows slaughtered by this ongoing writers’ strike is disheartening.
Sure, I love reality TV, and I can’t wait for “Big Brother” to premiere for its first-ever winter installment, but I love scripted TV even more. And I don’t like that this year’s abbreviated TV season can be chalked up to simple greed and selfishness.
Most people seem to favor one side or the other, but I’m of the belief that both parties in the strike are equally guilty. If all the greedy bastards could just get over themselves, this dry spell would have fizzled by now. The Writers Guild wants residual payments for online distribution of content, and the networks and studios don’t want to pay writers for online content because they “need” more time to research the medium. Neither side, it seems, is willing to budge.
It’s hard for me to favor any side of the disagreement because I’m angry at both parties, but it only makes sense for the big networks and studios – which see millions of dollars in profit every year – to give in and just grant the writers what they want. At the same time, the strike has gone on far longer than it needed to, putting innumerable people out of work, and I kinda blame that on the writers.
While the writers and actors are out picketing, what are the production crews, caterers and stylists supposed to do without TV shows and movies to work on? They’re definitely not getting work at the awards shows, which have been butchered beyond belief this year. Hollywood is at a complete standstill.
But there’s hope. Months ago, with the strike looming on the horizon, most of the networks stockpiled episodes and reality shows to keep their schedules fresh in case the strike lasted longer than expected. Fox has “Prison Break” and “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”. CBS has more “Big Brother” and “Survivor” on the docket and will be airing the first season of Showtime’s “Dexter” in February. NBC has “American Gladiators” and “Medium.” ABC appears to have the fullest strike lineup, though: “Dance War,” “Notes From the Underbelly,” “Eli Stone” and that little show called “Lost” will all be there to fill the void. If all else fails, there’s always “Project Runway” on Bravo.
Whew. That list was bigger than I thought it would be, which I guess is good news. It turns out that while the greedy life-ruiners argue like selfish children, there are still series to watch on TV. I’ll watch “Dance War,” even though it’s not my first choice of entertainment. I suppose I can calm down a little now and just sit back and enjoy what’s left of the season – at least until next season, when the lack of new shows will make the strike’s effects painfully clear.
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