The most well written network shows in the last ten years have been extremely short lived. If Arrested Development and Freaks and Geeks can't get ratings, then I'm guessing network execs probably realize that Americans are just as happy to watch obese people go on diets (as entertainment!) as anything and are willing to drag this out a long time.

Now that the download dilemma is growing in Hollywood, $$$ cuts on budget has been accelerated, and writers are somehow, once again, at the bottom of the money-chain. They like the work, they ask us to change the work, they change it without asking us, and cut %'s of our pay for those they've hired to fuck with it. Then we get angry, because we're basically littering with our name on it, since it's no longer the story we created because some fuckhead was hired to make it 'more appealing for a larger audience' etc, etc...we go through enough as it is. Then our fucked-with screenplay is made into a total box office bomb, and they turn their heads and say, "Well gee Wally, I thought the test-screeners liked it durrrrr."

It's total FOX shit running Hollywood right now. We've sick of it. Audiences are sick of it. And poor teenagers who have to download rated R movies, only to waste that precious time downloading to conclude with a 1-1/2-2 hour session of cud, well...they have to deal with it, too.

These guys are supposed to be comedians..SHOCKER, WRITE YOUR OWN JOKES!

Then let a celeb push their new project, annnd the end

Hmm

Locally, it won't have much impact, since there are very few, if any, shows here using WGA represented writers. But what people have to be made aware of is the fact that this is only the opening salvo in what might become a protracted war between performers unions and the media conglomerates; both the Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) and AFTRA have a Network contract up for renegotiation next spring, and I believe IATSE (the stagehands' union representing both TV/film technical production crews and legit theatre stage crews) are already in the midst of negotiating with Broadway producers for a new contract. So, what happens vis-a-vis the WGA action now could have much wider implications to the entire industry in the next several months.

In the meantime, if this goes more than a few weeks, expect to see a lot of absolute drek appear on your TV's as shows run out of useable scripts, and the nets are forced to run out unscripted "reality TV" series to fill the scheduling holes.

Is there? Or does the WGA have work going on there and just not in the US?

In other words, will this kill the shows I love (partially because I play Spot The Place I've Been) like BSG and Bionic Woman?

Give it time...

Most so-called "reality series" aren't currently covered under WGA contracts, so they're not going to be adversely affected by the walk-out. Plus, they have very quick production turn-arounds, and can literally go from concept to production in a matter of months, if not weeks, and they're incredibly cheap to produce, which means studios and nets have a chance to recoup at least some of the revenue they'll lose if the strike drags on more than a few weeks.

The risk of course is that, as opposed to the 1988 strike, viewers today have far more choices in terms of available product to watch. So the question this time is, will they just switch to other forms of entertainment, like DVD's, downloads, et al, instead of watching whatever quick-and-dirty or dumbed-down programming gets tossed on-air to fill the schedules?

And this doesn't even take into consideration the inevitable backlash from viewers if hit series' season story arcs get interupted for a prolonged period.

With the writers on strike, does that mean the Fox News Channel will be showing "news" reruns?

If it's not originally produced for and aired on a Canadian net such as CBC, CTV, TVA or TVOntario, it's not a "Canadian series", irrespective of whether it's actually shot in Canada.

#2. Absolutely not. RDM promised to finish BSG after the strike. Check the scifi.com forums.

#13. NBC's hanging on to BW and it will continue after the strike is resolved.

(I have a vested interest in both as a fan of Mark Sheppard).

Honestly, at this point, I don't even watch TV - on TV. I pull down shows that I like and watch them on my own time. It's excellent for ones like Doctor Who, that keep doing 2- and 3-part episodes.

I wonder if the shorter seasons over there have something to do with what seems to be an overall higher quality of show - doing 12-13 shows a season seems like it would encourage more attention than the 20+ monsters we get over here.

Everyone should absolutely watch Torchwood!

I just finished series one (as they say in the UK), and it totally rulz. Aside from some gore, it's almost too beautiful and poetic for television today. It follows the same path as the X-Files, Buffy TVS, and Ultraviolet, but has more depth, romance and self-aware, sardonic wit.

My fave eps: "They Keep Killing Suzie" and "Out of Time."

It's showing on CBC (Ch. 99 in Seattle) on Friday nights.

Cool.

I do so love Torchwood.

The strike is almost perfectly about shows like Arrested Development and Freaks and Geeks--television shows, even when they perform poorly in first-run, oftentimes find an audience when sold in other platforms. Writers got the short end on DVD residuals, and part of this strike is to correct the imbalance and deal with compensation on downloaded content over the net.

So assuming this is true (and it wouldn't surprise me, the cost-benefit analysis in many strikes is beyond screwy), which section of the guild is really pushing it?

As for the cost-benefit analysis, it's generally the case that overall wages lost during a work stoppage will exceed the aggregate of the additional revenue that's being struck for. But, this is also a long-term issue for writers. If they can pressure producers to agree to the revised revenue structure for off-broadcast sales (DVD's, internet & personal media platforms, etc.) then they've set a precedent that will be followed in future contracts. That's a lot of what the current negotiations have revolved around.

As I believe a previous poster pointed out, writers got totally screwed over DVD sales formulas, and they want to ensure that doesn't happen again with the advent of new media platforms.