This week, we said “goodbye” to Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jon Stewart. Next month, we’ll have to find other mid-day entertainment as soap operas come to a halt. Early next year, we’ll watch as the doctors of “Grey’s Anatomy” and employees of the “The Office” leave the airwaves.
This is the result of the Writers Guild of America strike that has currently stopped production on television series, as well as late-night comedy talk shows.
The WGA was in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers to increase the percentage writers get from DVD sales and granting guild jurisdiction over Internet downloads. Currently, the WGA is operating under terms set up in 1988, way before DVDs and the Internet. The WGA’s contract with AMPTP ran out Oct. 31.
The strike officially kicked off at 12:01 a.m. Monday after failed last-minute negotiations with the AMPTP, bringing a dark cloud over Hollywood.
Writers will spend their days picketing in key locations in New York City and Los Angeles until an agreement is met. However, networks aren’t ready to budge, claiming they are in this for the long haul.
The writers are just as persistent. Head writers for the television shows have signed a pledge that states, “Pencils down means pencils down.” That means they won’t be generating new ideas or writing any new scripts until a deal with the AMPTP is reached.
What does this mean for viewers?
Recently, late-night comedy and talk shows have gone into repeats. In about a month, the scripts for soap operas will run out. Finally, scripted primetime shows such as “The Office” and “Grey’s Anatomy” will either go into repeats or be replaced by mid-season shows that have been back-piled in anticipation of a strike.
Besides mediocre mid-season replacements and news programs, we’ll all be seeing an increase in—wait for it—reality shows. Since these shows are cheap and don’t require written scripts, networks are relying on these shows to carry them through the strike.
The AMPTP is being stubborn and cheap, following antiquated guidelines that outdate modern technology. While they hope to save a few bucks by not paying writers what they deserve, they are screwing themselves over. The last WGA strike occurred in 1988, lasted five-and-a-half months and cost the industry $500 million, according to the Associated Press.
In a time where media piracy is hitting the industry hard, is the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars because of a strike worth it to the AMPTP?
So as our favorite TV writers continue to picket outside Rockefeller Center and around Hollywood, let’s cross our fingers that the AMPTP will cave and give writers what they deserve.
Otherwise, this winter will be a lonely one, filled with re-runs, Flavor Flav and “Wife Swap.”
About Us | Supplements | Advertising | Contact Us
Website design by Erik Pitzer ('07)
