BeoWulf
Well-Known Member
Some of you may know The prospect of a strike was a wake-up call for viewers.
On Monday, writers who once scripted "Late Night" and so many other shows (and movies, too) were picketing outside NBC's Rockefeller Center headquarters.
"Hey, hey, ho, ho, management can't write the show," they chanted, demonstrating that their own writing skills don't include poetry.
The dispute between Writers Guild of America members and the networks and studios that employ them centers on issues like Internet royalties for TV shows. Basically when you write a script for something you get paid for it everytime its reaired or copied etc. However the writers are being left out of their deal as far as "New Media" is concerned which are "Dvds and web based episode airings like itunes"
And things could get worse. If the strike drags on (and the last one, in 1988, went for 22 weeks), the reservoir of new scripted shows could run dry.
Strike back if you must. But the absence of writers from TV right now might mark a good time to surmount your wounded feelings, and take measure of what writers bring to television.
Consider: At the heart of nearly every complaint you've ever lodged against TV is what the writer did. You spend little time beefing about an actor you might not like. You don't worry too much about whether a shot is framed artistically enough.
What you really notice about a TV show, especially when you object to it, mostly boils down to how it's written. That's how fundamental the writers are.
It doesn't mean you should automatically support them in a strike that, it already is making TV less fun for you to watch. But to give yourself a fresh perspective on their value, picture those writers not on a picket line, their keyboards forsaken, but instead, for a moment, dropped into a MasterCard commercial:
Bottled water, candy bars and pencils for the Writer's Room: $37.
Average WGA writer's annual income (at least, according to the studios and networks): About $200,000. a year...
The script for a top-notch TV show, one that makes you laugh or cry and talk about it afterward for days: Priceless.
So what does all this mean for your current favorite shows? Well details are still coming in fast and furious, but here is what is known about a few notable series:
Heroes: Heroes is likely going to turn their December 3rd episode, the eleventh of the season, into the season finale. It was always intended as the end of the "Generations" arc, and a new ending has been written in order to turn it into a more solid conclusion for now.
Lost: ABC's big mid-season show was meant to be Lost, which was to return to begin a 16 episode fourth season early next year. Last week Eonline reported that Lost had been written up through episode 14, so that the majority of the season could be shot.
Prison Break: Also a bit luckier than many other serialized dramas, Prison Break has enough scripts completed to get them through episode 13. That episode had always been intended to be a mid-season cliffhanger, so it can easily function as a full season cliffhanger under these new circumstances.
24: Fans won't be happy about this. The promotional push for Season 7 had already begun, but given the situation, the show might not debut at all this TV season. Because of the heavily serialized nature of the series and the specific 24 hours over 24 episodes format, FOX and the producers are debating whether it's worth airing only the first few episodes of the season, only to have the storyline be cut off for an unknown amount of time. Sources have heard that the show has enough scripts completed to only get them through around episode 10 of the season. Beyond that, if production can't resume within a month, it's almost certain to ensure that the show won't be able to complete 24 episodes this season and thus won't be airing at all. Presumably the completed episodes would be held for whenever production does resume and air together during the 2008 - 2009 TV season.
South Park: Good news, South Park fans. This show will go on. Comedy Central informs us that South Park is a non-Union show and will continue as scheduled, including new episodes this week and next. It will then return in the spring with another batch of new episodes. Given how quickly the show is created and how topical it is, could a strike oriented episode be in the cards for next week's finale? (this week is scheduled to be Guitar Hero-centric).
The Simpsons / Family Guy: Like most animated series (besides South Park of course), these shows are written far in advance of their air date, due to the long process of animating them. That being the case, it's likely these shows (and King of the Hill and American Dad) will have new episodes for most of the season, if not the full 22. Still, Simpsons producer Al Jean has cautioned that there are typically rewrites done during the process that can no longer take place, meaning some of the episodes for later in the season could remain unfinished for now.
The Daily Show / The Colbert Report: Along with most daily talk shows -- Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel -- The Daily Show and The Colbert Report will be shutting down immediately. It's believed that if the strike goes on for a long time, eventually many of these shows will return, as Letterman and Johnny Carson did during the 1980s strike. Not having their writing staff for usual monologues and bits, there will likely be format changes, such as having the hosts simply sit and chat about the day's events at their desks.
Battlestar Galactica: This is one of the more frustrating situations for fans. Galactica is currently filming their fourth and final season, and have passed the half way mark. However, the final batch of episodes are not written and so production can not be done on the end of the series. Even if a couple of episodes more are shot, SCI FI was already planning on a mid-season split, so fans should expect a ten episode run of the show beginning in April. The rest of the episodes will be held until the time when the final episodes can be shot.
So there it is you may not like it but those people need to be heard. Just so you understand how seriously this could affect the industry this whole issue could make for a very shortlist of movie premiers come 2008. Its never easy but just for the laughs heres what the SNL team think about the issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-FZK5K8J-s