First off let me be the first to say...I'm all for the writers strike, GO LABOR! UNION YES!!

Now thats out of the way, the bomb has dropped for shows like Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, and Grey's Anatomy...they are out of shows. We may not know who died in the tornado until like next June, and then we may not care. ABC has trotted out canned unaired episodes of crap they ordered last year but cancelled mid-season (October Road, Men in Trees...maybe) and a new game show. Now October Road had me poleaxed in many ways, I watched for the supreme hotness of Laura Prepon (who I would watch reading agriculture futures) but the story was the SAPPIEST vat of putrid dish water since "Our House". Men in trees is just "Sex in Alaska" and wouldn't even work on cable with Ellen's ex galavanting nude across the tundra being chased by a horny bear.



Now on to NBC because except for football I don't watch the Geriatic Broadcasting System. How much pot do I have to smoke and mtn dew do I have to drink to like Heroes? I watched one episode and was like..."Where are the costumes, Dorks won't watch unless that cheerleader girl is in a unitard 97% of the time" I'd rather watch "The Greatest American Hero" and "McGuyver" reruns than that "normal" people with "super" powers bag of cliffhanger crap anyday. I can ONLY hope NBC wises up and brings back the unaired episodes of 2 of their best shows ever "Studio 54" and "The Black Donnellys" I had TOTALLY written off EVERYTHING at the peacock except "Conan" and "30 Rock" until these shows came along.

Psst...I heard "Supreme Sphincter Licker of the Brown Lips Nation" Carson Daly crossed the picket line and started taping episodes of "I'm drunk wanna f**k" err I mean "Last Call". Really we should notice ABSOLUTELY no difference in this show without professional writers. If he thinks he can weasel his way behind the desk of "The Tonight Show" I think even Cousin Sal would be ready to kneecap that little scab.

Discuss post canned episode netwerk TV here....

I think it's amusing, but that's about it. I don't watch TV much, other than the food network, and the Discovery channels, so am mostly unaffected.

What about game shows? Are they affected? I do enjoy Jeopardy...But I don't think their staff is in the same category as writers.

Read any good books lately?

Why are they striking? Are they not making enough money? If that's the case, they should come work my $6/hr job for a month and then go f**k themselves.

I was with you till you went after Heroes. I downloaded the first episode of Season 1, onto my ipod, and was hooked. I can't come up with alot of excuses for season 2, but if you couldn't enjoy season 1, there is no amount of writing that will help you.

All my shows are ending now anyway. Besides Hereos, Weeds ended last week, and Dexter has two more weeks. We moved the TV from the bedroom back into the den on Thanksgiving, and since then, watch about 4 hours a week. I figure in a couple of weeks, it will start collecting dust as I tackle my honey do list.

I'm hoping the writer's strike goes on for a while longer. I hope the networks are forced to put on even more reality shows to the point that we, the viewers, finally realize what crap most of it really is.

If it wasn't for the L Word starting up soon, I'd probably get my fiancee to finally cut the cable cord for good.

I'm tired of how Comedy Central is recycling Daily Show and Colbert Report reruns.

Game shows and reality shows are not affected, which is why we had our first bludgeoning of "Who wants..." "Big Brother" and "Survivor" after the last strike.

Although I disagree with you on Heroes, I do agree with your statement: .


The Writers Strike in the late 80's is what killed Moonlighting (Best show on TV before the strike).

It may also kill a lot of the popular shows today....like Heroes, Journeyman, Chuck, ....(oh, sorry, those are all NBC shows)

But it will give rise to the "writer-less" shows like Big Brother, American Idol, Survivor, Deal or No Deal, Don't Forget the Lyrics, etc.

It will also create a new group of "writer-less" shows... like American Gladiator, Who Thinks They're talented but is really an idiot but we'll pay you money for us to broadcast you, etc.

They're asking for a portion of the royalties that come from DVD sales of the shows, in part. I'm sure there's more to it.

But why be angry because they want more money? Everyone does, and those who have the skill or training that's in demand can expect higher pay.

I don't watch TV. I rent DVDs from the library, and I have some hard to find titles on my own. For news I use the internet. I read books. For entertainment I play with my kids, or just hang around my wife. She is very entertaining. I dont want this comment to become NSFW, so it is hard to put into words what a TV program should do to beat my everyday life.

My wife is like that after about 5 drinks...otherwise she is asleep on the couch.

I'm just saying, it seems kinda bratty. I wish I were making as much money as they were, and they're throwing a big fuss about it.

I'm also just kinda cranky cause I miss the Office.

A few things.

Ye Old Tinsel Town.

This strike is telling of the fact that actors and actresses are brainless, lifeless dummies that can't do anything for themselves unless they have a writer's hand up their ass moving their mouth.

Yet, because they are on TV reading a script, they think they have the star power and credibility to move mountains. F*ck celebrities, they make me sick. Sure there are exceptions, but they are few.

Brainless hordes of Americans empower celebrities into thinking they are beyond human. So really, it's our fault. We are the ones swooning and drooling over the next big star, only to have them replaced by some other brainless star when the next season of shows comes around...

It's an endless cycle and it epitomizes all that tinsel town is about...

In my opinion, writers should get paid more and the actors paid less.

Yeah but writers are ugly and they can hold their liquor.

Exactly.

Most people that are in the spotlight and in front of a camera are overpaid for the work they actually perform.

Anyone really think a football players job is more important than a teachers? So is the teacher underpaid, or the linebacker overpaid? Both? Sad, because the money for the linebacker will never be made available to the teacher. And yet people wonder why kids don't give a damn about school and getting good grades.

The issue is a complicated union issue stemming back to the 80's and the introduction of the VCR. Its complicated.

To clear up the writers' strike:

1) When the VHS market was jsut being introduced, the movie companies asked writers to take a temporary cut on royalties in order to expand the market. Seeming like a good idea at the time, the writers agreed to only get 2 cents for every unit sold in VHS. This mostly only applied to film writers, as TV writers stuff wasn't usually put on VHS. The movie companies never amended the "temporary" cut and despite the market now being flooded by DVDs of TV shows which sell by the millions. And because iTunes and Amazon offer "unboxed" TV shows and movies, they have a much greater profit margin (without shipping, packaging, etc) and still only pay the writer a measley 2 cents.

2) Because of the piracy on the internet, the TV companies have started showing their content on their websites, which run ads, which the companies get paid for. However, they do not pay the writers ANYTHING for stuff on the web. They claim it's too new and they can't be sure of their profits even. Never mind that fact that they earn millions (billions?) in advertising.

3) Most actors are joined in support because they too stand to earn more. Not all actors are multi-gajillionaires, and residuals are what help them pay the bills when they're between gigs. Same for the writers. Yes, most live comfortably, but very few are lamenting their profit loss on their private jets.

Support the writers. Spit on the TV executives. And yes, pray it's over soon so we can get back to watching The Office!

No. Maddie and David sleeping together is what killed Moonlighting.

Solidarity!