Not good news for TV

[Sarah]

So my cousin works in Hollywood in the film industry. He says the word on the street is that the writer's strike is not going to end anytime soon and that the actors are going to strike in June. So that probably means NO new TV in the fall.

Guess we'll all have time to read War & Peace.

[[deleted user]]

oh wow that sucks. hopefully they'll come out with more reality shows.

[Tiffany]

I figured I would be dying for some new shows, especially since they have been on holiday (or saving up to stretch out through the strike), ;) and surprisingly, I have found plenty to keep me busy. I never realized how much time I wasted in front of the TV set. While I hate knowing they are not coming on and I hate being left hanging, I am being a lot more productive. And what are the actors striking for? More money?...

[[deleted user]]

its not a actors strike..its a writers strike.

[Sarah]

No, Frances, according to my cousin, the actors are going to strike in June. I don't know why. I think it has to do with the scale pay, not the pay the big celebs get.

[[deleted user]]

oh wow..I didnt hear that. Thats really lame.

[Shannon, the founder of fun (back from sabbatical)]

My husband and I are going on a tv strike. We are cancelling our cable this week in support of the writers and also in protest of all the crappy reality television. I'm looking forward to not watching it. We've discussed how this writers strike is going to influence entertainment in general. I think the gaming industry is really working overtime to get out more titles - and also this will probably open up a whole new world for internet television. I think the strike is really going to change things in a big way.
We got a playstation 3, which is an amazing powerful machine. We are able to download movies etc and watch them on our 50 inch tv screen. It's incredible how technology can really change things. I'm so tired of paying so much for cable and having only a few channels I ever watch and poor quality tv shows. I think you should be able to select the channels you want to pay for. Hopefully this is the direction we will be moving in.

[Arielle]

Woo Hoo, you go Shannon!
I've never thought about a strike in particular, but we thought about canceling when we had kids because of all the garbage on. I totally agree about just choosing certain channels!

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

Yes, but that is up to the cable companies and really has nothing to do with Hollywood.

I think it's a great thing to do, though, Shannon. When I lived in Italy I didn't have a TV, nor even a computer to play movies on. It was fantastic.

Here, though, I'd really, REALLY miss watching hockey and footy (soccer).

It's kind of like when hockey wasn't around an entire season because of the strike... I hated it, but I had so much more time to do other things. Same with TV now. There are certain shows I really love, but this makes it easy to simply walk away. No longing for what I'm missing. (Just longing for what's not there now and then. LOL)

[Alison, the guru of grace]

Aside from Grey's and Ugly Betty, no new shows wouldn't affect me too much. And like someone said, I haven't even really missed them that much. They're just guilty pleasures.

All I need is Turner Classic Movies and American Movie Classics, and I'm set!

[[deleted user]]

Someone in the forum I belong to said that Army Wives wont be coming back on. This is so disappointing. It was the one show I was looking forward to watching again. =(


I'm starting to really miss watching my shows. I only watch tv just for those shows. But Grey's & Ugly Betty come back on soon, so at least thats something.

I dont think I could cancel our cable. I actually look forward to some reality shows. Last summer I got really into So You Think You Can Dance & Hell's Kitchen, and I'm really excited that dh is here this year to watch it with me. And I need my HBO & Starz!!! And I need my MTV Hits & Vh1 Classic!!!!

[Jen]

Not having The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in an election year is just too much to bear for me.

[Arctic]

Both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are back on the air starting Jan 7, albeit sans writers. Supposedly they'll be relying heavily on interviews. I'll be interested in seeing how it goes.

[Dottie]

My husband was excited about Leno sans writers last night -- so much so that he told me all about the monologue which I'd missed and insisted I watch the rest wtih him just to see Huckabee -- no that's not a political implication just who was on.

He kept saying Leno was funnier than usual -- maybe due to doing his own material?

Who knows? Could this strike backfire in some quarters? Anything is possible.

And oh yes -- hubby is not usually all that much of a Leno fan.

[Sarah]

I thought the terms of the strike said that they could notdo skits, monologues, or anything else normally written by a guild writer? Especially since Leno, O'Brian, and Letterman are all guild members themselves.

[Cody]

The Actors/Writers joining together to strike has been in the works for over two years now. It's not really...a secret. The Directors Guild will strike a deal easily because well, Producers always take care of the DGA. SAG and WGA have stated from the get go that they support one another and will strike together.

As far as Leno and Conan go, they can not do any material that is not written by themselves. They can write their own things.

Letterman owns the production company that does his show (both Conan and Leno have production companies but NBC owns those companies, it's a subsidy of NBC, not a freestanding company like Letterman). Letterman struck a deal to have his writers, and he was able to do so because of the fact that he is not attached to a studio, he's his own unit (so is the Craig Ferguson show or whatever that guys name is).

That being said, I agree, Conan and Leno were both rather hilarious last night. It will be interesting to see how it goes. How well Conan does without his writing staff is a huge testament considering he'll be filling the Tonight Show shoes in a few years.

[Sera]

The writer's union is holding Leno in breach of its terms and for crossing the picket line even though he is writing all of the material himself.

[Shannon, the founder of fun (back from sabbatical)]

I've never been a Leno fan. He's not my brand of funny and really he's just not funny. (Pardon my snark)

Jen - it's been difficult coping without the Daily Show during the political season. I needed some Jon last night for Iowa.

[Alison, the guru of grace]

Did everyone read that Hollywood actors are going to boycott the Golden Globes? Is this really going to happen? And not the Oscars, please not the Oscars. I have to get my live celebrity fix on.

[Dottie]

Wow -- you all know much more than I do about those details -- it sounds as though it will only get messier. Have to wonder what the long-term outcome may be.

[Jenna]

I have been dying without the Daily Show and the Colbert Report but I can't imgaine it without their writers. And I'm devastated that the new season of Lost (which I have been anticipating since last May when it ended) has been chopped in half.

I think the writers should get the compensation they deserve already but you all make a valid point. Maybe it will do some real good in forcing America away from the television and towards more productive things.

[Cody]

It's not that they are BOYCOTTING the Golden Globes. They are refusing to cross the picket lines. All 90+ nominees/presenters will NOT be attending the Golden Globes and as of right now the ceremony is still going forward as planned, per a statement given the other day.

[[deleted user]]

I'm disappointed with the Golden Globes. I look forward to the awards every year. But oh well. It will be interesting to see what happens.

[[deleted user]]

The Golden Globes are canceled!!

http://www.people.com/people/article/...

[Cody]

Well what did you expect when 90 plus nominees/presenters refuse to attend?

I understand a lot of you, and people in general, enjoy the awards but I think it's really selfish to want the WGA and the SAG to stop fighting for their livelihood just so a bunch of people can watch pretty clothes accept a pretty award. The studios need to step up, give them what they deserve, and let every body get back to work.

Of course I'm taking this all much more personally than I think a majority of people are, because almost a 1/3 of my friends and family are members of either the WGA or SAG and I 100% completely support what they are doing.

I mean, it's their livelihood, it's their jobs, it's how they LIVE, and even more than that, they deserve every little thing they're asking for from the studios.

I could go on and on but I won't. *jumps off soapbox*

[Arctic]

A Daily Show and The Colbert Report (that's Col-Bert, not Col-Bear or Re-Pour) aired last night and were pretty funny. Jon's show seemed a bit scripted which Stephen commented on right away. Love Colbert's The Word too. They were both in good form, but I think the Colbert Report had the upper hand.

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

Jenna, LOST had announced toward the end of last summer that they were only doing two more season and they were chopped considerably, each only being 16 episodes (thus our having to wait until this year for it's return). That's not because of the strike. If they cut it more than that, then I'm through with them.