Monday, December 10, 2007

In light of the previous keeping you warm post

I read this and found it rather depressing on a site called TV Stevie - an online television critic. He's actually quite a hoot with his own particular brand of humour on TV. Here's what he had to say:

The strike goes on, and on...and onIt looks like this TV writers' strike is
going to drag on for quite a while. Mind you, I have no special insights into
negotiations between the two sides, but all signs point to a long, greedy
stalemate. And I'm finding it remarkable just how unaffected most people are
from it.When I get together with friends -- something that happens more often
during the holidays than any other time of year -- eventually the conversation
drifts over to my job, and I start blabbing about whatever semi-interesting
stuff I've recently learned about television. However, when I start
jibber-jabbering about the strike, I've found it remarkable how many people
haven't even noticed that it's going on. Since only a handful of popular shows
have been affected to this point (most notably The Office), it still hasn't sunk
in to most people that even if the work stoppage was resolved in the next few
days, the effects of the strike will be felt well into next summer.At this
point, it is unclear whether there will be enough time to produce the remainder
of the 2007-2008 TV season before production is slated to begin on the next one.
Depending on how long the strike lasts, fans may not see the conclusion of this
season's Lost, 24, and Battlestar Galactica (among many others) until at least
halfway through 2008, well into the summer.Next season's new TV shows are also
bound to be affected. If a settlement with the Writers' Guild isn't reached
within the next few weeks, an entire season of pilots will likely be torpedoed.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, if the stoppage isn't ended soon, with
writers back on the job before January 1 (unlikely), 25 percent of next year's
usual crop of pilots will have to be scrapped. If the strike goes past February
1, 50 percent of the pilots will go up in smoke. If the dispute lasts well into
February, there's a good chance that the entire pilot development season would
be cancelled, which would dramatically affect the entire industry, not to
mention people like me who look forward to new shows every year.
Season four
of Lost might not conclude until summer 2008.An autumn without new TV shows
would be like Christmas without presents or Hanukkah without candles. Imagine
what it would be like: summer ends, the leaves change colours, and ZERO NEW TV
SHOWS to ease us into the cold discomfort of winter. Tantrums would be thrown
(by me). I feel like I'm breaking out into hives just writing this.As we all
know, I don't have a problem with reality television, but I think the entire
world might go insane if TV was all-reality, all the time. I like Survivor, and
I can stomach any amount of celebreality you throw my way, but I can't watch it
all the time. I imagine that if this strike persists and television goes down
the tubes, I'll have to find a new job writing concert reviews or posting
homeopathic remedies for athlete's foot. If TV goes down, I'm going down with
it.While the strike is mostly a pox on us all, I kind of like how the TV writers
are proving to the world that writers are actually integral to the industry. As
a writer myself, in my darker moments I tell myself how 99 percent of the people
on this planet could do my job. We all wrote essays in university, and it's not
like I was pulling in the highest grades. But seeing the mass hysteria from the
industry when these writers pull their support fills me with a feeling of self
worth.In a sense I feel solidarity with them, and want them to hold out as long
as they feel they need to. On a more selfish tip, I want them to get back to
work because writing about this strike is getting boring.


4 comments:

KT Grant said...

If the writers strike is not resolved by February, all we will have next season are reality shows and game shows. I don't think they realize that if this continues, television will be very different and not in good ways.
No more million dollar salaries and we the public are fickle. Yeah it would blow if we have no shows like Lost or gasp- Nip/Tuck, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it.
As of now 24 is on permanant hiatus.
Just have to watch North and South to keep me busy ;)Or go blog crazy, much like I do now.

Kristie (J) said...

Then again that would also leave more time for reading too :)
And I do have the rest of the Robin Hood DVD's to watch. And the ones I bought from the other series they did. The one with the GOOD LOOKING Robin - Michael Praed. So - other than Lost, I'm not sweatin' it.

nath said...

I don't know, I'm thinking that perhaps, this could be beneficial, for ppl who are so hooked on tv... if not, please bring old stuff back!

CindyS said...

I'm thinking my reading would definitely come to the forefront. I'm sick of the studios and the shows that cancelled because you can even say 'I love it'. I'm thinking I'll just cancel my cable if they keep this up. I can just rent movies or shows. I'm a jaded thing aren't I? After the problems with LOST I'm pretty much over how the networks work. If they can't put up a show then I'll find something else to do. I used to get really upset but I just can't find the energy anymore.

CindyS