Slog - Comments on This is What a Writers' Strike Looks Like http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like Did anyone else happen to catch last night's television broadcast of the People's Choice Awards? Oh my god. Toronto Star columnist Vinay Menon lays it out well: With no red carpet, no live audience, no attending celebrities and no reason for host Queen Latifah to be as giddy as she was, the broadcast had the look and feel of a cable-access retrospective. CBS promised a "newsmagazine" approach. We now know what this means: clips, taped acceptance speeches, asinine questions from the People and, most bizarrely, a musty glut of "highlights" from previous telecasts. It's as if some executive suddenly... Copyright 2008 Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:39:14 -0800 Wed, 09 Jan 2008 19:28:42 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by boxofbirds I'm so glad I went to bed early last night.

]]> boxofbirds http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894570 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894570 TV Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:41:55 -0800 Comment by Mr. Poe People actually watch the People's Choice Awards? Huh.

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894572 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894572 TV Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:44:39 -0800 Comment by monkey And today the writers have a message for you...

THAT'S WHAT WE THOUGHT!

]]> monkey http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894592 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894592 TV Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:01:02 -0800 Comment by Turtle This was the first time I ever watched the People's Choice Awards, and I did it out of a perverse curiosity to see how the WGA strike would affect the show.

I kinda feel for Latifah; wow, was she over the top . But what a strange, sad spectacle.

Nice to have Katherine Heigl, Patrick Dempsey, Chandra Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, the kid from "Two and a Half Men" and others mention the strike. (Impressive that Witherspoon worked in not one, but two, references to her currently shooting film.)

My two larger questions: What substance/s did Joaquin Phoenix ingest right before taping his acceptance speech, and why did he misspell his own name? These two questions are possibly related.

]]> Turtle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894597 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894597 TV Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:04:13 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle I kept trying to watch it, but it was almost like watching paint dry.

Very very sad, and Queen Latifah did her best to try to save it ...

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894631 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894631 TV Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:23:44 -0800 Comment by keshmeshi @4,

I didn't watch the PCA, but Phoenix is a painfully bad guest on talk shows. Horribly shy, can barely choke out the obligatory "funny" story. He was either sober and suffering from his usual phobias, or he ingested some substance to help him deal with public speaking.

]]> keshmeshi http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894645 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894645 TV Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:27:50 -0800 Comment by catnextdoor in albuquerque Yeah, I was drunk, and looking for comic relief but found nothing. I'm SO glad someone posted about it here- I couldnt even watch the whole thing. From what I did see, it looked painful and I was embarrassed for her. I pray she was on something, 'cus I dont know anyone that could do something that lame and not be wasted. Let's just hope she still has a career. Ouch.

I DID however end up watching the documentary Jesus Camp. Holy crap, if you havent seen it already, the BEST cameo is Ted Haggard, a year or so before he was outed preaching and everyone loving the shit out of him. THATS what I call comic relief.

]]> catnextdoor in albuquerque http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894649 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894649 TV Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:28:34 -0800 Comment by Julie I didn't see the show, but did see the Joaquin Phoenix bit online. How funny was it that he spelled his own name wrong. On purpose? To be funny because of his whole "I'm speechless without the writers" message?

]]> Julie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894671 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894671 TV Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:38:53 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle Oh, and I watched the whole Cashmere Mafia.

Then I had to take a shower.

Yuk.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894768 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c894768 TV Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:38:32 -0800 Comment by madamecrow Darn, the People's Choice Awards is the only awards show I make it a point NOT to watch. It sounds like this year I should have made an exception.

]]> madamecrow http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c895230 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c895230 TV Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:53:41 -0800 Comment by M Last night was suicide on tv. Could only watch a sec. of Latifah...way too weird. Then tried to watch the Frontline on the over-medicating of children in the US ...fucking depressing... and then tried to watch Cashmere Mafia which threw me into a epileptic fit. I went to bed too tormented to even try to read a motherfucking book.

]]> M http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c895325 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/this_is_what_a_writers_strike_looks_like#c895325 TV Wed, 09 Jan 2008 19:28:42 -0800