TV viewers should be mad…but at who?
As we all know, the writers strike started earlier this week (Monday to be precise). While many of us really don’t care because this doesn’t mess with TV short term, in the next few months we will start to notice a big difference.
Shows like 24, Lost, Scrubs, and The Office will all feel the full force of this strike in the coming months. But who is really at fault here? Is it the companies fault for not noticing the changing trends in media, or is it the writers fault for not noticing the same changes? The big issue comes down to (doesn’t it always) money. The writers want compensation for the web-based content they create (original or just a re-airing of a show), plus an increased cut of DVD sales. While I can certainly agree with them on these terms, the way that they are holding out makes it seem like they didn’t want to negotiate in the first place. When these people are interviewed out on the streets, they all have a smug tone about them. Why? Because they know that they are right. As a matter of fact, everyone knows that they’re right. What better leverage is there in a negotiation than the other side knowing everyone is against them. It seems to me that the writers used this position in an attempt to break the bank when it came to the demands they made. But reasonable doesn’t quite cut it in Hollywood anymore. Not when there is a cash cow just waiting to be milked. So, regardless of how right the writers might actually be, they only come out looking like a bunch of egotistical jerk-offs who don’t realize that the only reason that they have a job in the first place is because of the viewer. Many American’s couldn’t care less about how much these people make because its probably more money than the average person will ever see. And (sadly I might add) TV has become such a staple in everyday America that a strike like this will only end up making the writers look bad. Which brings me to my final point: No matter how right or wrong the writers are, the only people who end us losing anything are the ones who made their shows popular in the first place.
December 24, 2007 at 10:47 am
The writers do deserve to be compensated for the work that they do. What they do is brillant and irreplaceable. It always comes down to money and in the long run they’re going to lose it because of their poor judgement to wait this long to ask. They let the problem grow and reacted far to late. I hardly watch tv except for Thursday and Sunday nights. As a single, working mother supporting five children these are my nights of sanity. Watching Grey’s, the Office, and Desperate Housewives are my breaks. Has everyone forgotten that these shows are designed for one purpose and that purpose only? To satisfy the audience? If everyone has really become this selfish in their million dollar mansions than I have to reconsider whether or not I will continue to watch the show once it does come back on…if it ever does.