The Writer's Strike

When it comes to the writer's strike, I definitely side with the writers. When their last contact was being negotiated, no one foresaw the huge boom in technology (internet streaming, DVD sales skyrocketing, etc.) that would allow the studios to hoard that much more of the percentages. I think the strike was a really good idea, albeit really poorly timed.

Many of the best prime time shows in my time were lacking in quality this season before the strike began. Heroes' second season could've started out much better than it did, and it was just starting to gather a little bit of steam before they had to wrap up the storylines abruptly and tack together an eleventh hour finale before the strike. CSI: started a subplot that I was so sure to set up a bad outcome for one of the characters in the season finale that I made a bet with a co-worker of mine that I lost when the final episode of this short season aired last week. 24's and Lost's new seasons are only half done, with the former waiting on the shelf and the latter airing until they run out of fully produced episodes.

On the good side, the strike crippled the Golden Globes, and most people preferred the press conference format to the three hour plus circle-jerk snoozefest it usually is. The same result happening to the Grammys would be far from a tragedy for most. Hell, the Oscars have been falling so far in the ratings these past few years that other networks don't even bother with re-runs anymore.

But is there anything the writers can do to actually prove their worth? I mean, they protested the premiere of Alvin and the Chipmunks, for Christ's sake! Does anyone honestly believe a movie like that was written on anything other than cocktail napkins? And you would think that professional writers could come up with better sign slogans and picket line chants than what they have now.

Plus, this is the studio dump season, that period of time between the Oscar gold rush and the summer blockbusters where the studios drop the films they've either had on the shelves for three years or couldn't market any other time of year. Case in point: Meet the Spartans.

Meet the Spartans are the latest spoof movie from "writers" Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, whose previous credits include Spy Hard, Scary Movie 1-4, Date Movie and Epic Movie. That's right, their last SIX screen credits have the word "Movie" in the title! All of these films put together are the equivalent of manning a shift at Blockbuster where all the teenage stoner employees formed an improv troupe. If there was any justice in this world, the Writer's Guild should have have these guys face a firing squad manned by Harold Pinter, John Milius, Robert Towne and David Mamet.

And the studios and networks aren't even flinching. The studios already have their big 2008 blockbusters in post-production, and the networks have a whole crop of reality shows set to run in the meantime. Personally, I can't wait for Touching a Hot Stove for Cash, Truth or Waterboarding and Where's Your Antidote?. That should hold the American audiences for a while, until they re-discover books.