Collegio Online

Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: After Hours

Media Credit: AP Screenwriter Geoffrey Blake carries his son outside the Writers Guild of America Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif., Tuesday. Guild members had voted at the theater on whether to accept the terms of a tentative contract and end their 3-month-long strike.

I'm not sure how a Hollywood writers' strike negotiation works.

I imagine a long table, both sides of which are flanked by lawyers. Behind the lawyers on one side are network bigwigs in Armani suits. On the other side stand the writers - greasy, tired, artistic types wearing Chuck Taylors.

I imagine the lawyers writing numbers on a yellow legal pad. The writers' lawyers write: "We want this much."

The network lawyers write: "We'll give you this much."

The numbers never match.

This goes on and on for three months until, this week, the Writers Guild of America members decide that they've achieved enough with their strike. Or, maybe their lawyers just told them it was time.

There may be a few details to iron out, but for all intents and purposes, it's over. The strike, which not only halted the careers of writers but of actors, directors, producers, makeup artists, gaffers, etc., will no longer be tormenting viewers like you and me.

We've been forced to watch reruns and game shows that are meant to be viewed only during after-school snack times, not to mention any number of reality shows.

But even the reality shows have suffered from the writers' strike. Sadly, Ryan Seacrest has no writers to feed him clever lines like: "So ... how did it go with the judges?"

Lately, I've felt like the guest star in a broadcast-for-the-fourth-time-this-year episode of "Law and Order" - the hostage who screams into the phone: "Please, whatever they're asking for, just give it to them! For the love of God, give it to them!"

Even now, it's not really over. As the writers head back to work, we viewers will still have to wait. How long will it take to write new episodes and get them through production and onto our televisions?
I keep wondering how the strike is going to affect season four of "Battlestar Galactica," if it's going to start next month as it's supposed to, or if we'll all have to wait longer after last season's cliffhanger.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools