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Hollywood's Writers Strike - Time To Lay Down Your Remote & Read A Good Book |
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Written by D.L. McCracken
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Tuesday, 15 January 2008 |
I love television. Always have since the moment my parents purchased their very first floor model TV when I was no more than 5 or 6 years old. I was immediately captivated and have managed to maintain that fascination ever since.
Now that's not to say that I watch TV 24-7. The last time I watched daytime television was during that original reality show, the OJ Simpson Trial. When I discovered computers and the Internet my TV viewing decreased dramatically. But there were always programs that I looked forward to watching in the evenings. TV has been a staple of my life and I'm not ashamed to admit that.
No more. The TV that has been such an important part of my life is dead thanks to this writer's strike. I don't know the details of the basis for this strike nor do I care. I'm sure it has something to do with greed and even more greed on both sides of the issue. Who cares?
The bottom line is that the very people who are responsible for such a successful and ubiquitous business are the very people who suffer the most - the TV viewers. If it wasn't for people like me, TV would have never taken off in the first place.
So I've found myself turning the TV off earlier and earlier each night as I surf and surf the channels looking for a crumb of programming that I haven't already seen. Slim pickings indeed. I wonder if the two opposing sides in this strike considered the repercussions of their actions, specifically that they would not only lose their fans and viewers temporarily but permanently. Or, was that the plan all along...?
Everything associated with the entertainment business is expensive including the writer's and actor's ridiculous salaries. Perhaps this strike is really more to do with the bottom falling out than writers getting their fair piece of the money pie. It's a well known fact that reality programming, game shows and adult-oriented cartoons are a whole lot cheaper to produce than dramas and sitcoms. This new genre of entertainment has no need of actors at all. Except for animated programs like Family Guy or The Simpsons, writers aren't required either.
So welcome to television of the 21st century. No more dramas or comedies that require actual brain cells to produce; no more late night talk shows that apparently require writers to make them funny which is a surprise to me who naively believed that entertainers like Conan and Jay were funny in their own right. Who would have thought that they needed writers to make them funny! Did they start their careers with writers at their side?
Television of the 21st century will be comprised of American Idol, Big Brother, American Gladiator on the reality side and more evil baby Stewies and smart-ass Bart Simpsons on the animation front with way too many Deal or No Deal game shows scattered throughout.
And this marks the end of my life-long love affair with the industry. The powers-that-be in Tinseltown have played with my emotions and taken me for granted one too many times.
I officially lay down my remote.
And gleefully pick up my copy of Douglas Coupland's novel, "All Families Are Psychotic", acutely aware of a bitter irony - another Coupland novel, "jPod" is now the basis for a television series...
When D.L.McCracken isn't immersed in a Coupland novel, the writer can be reached via email:
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