How the WGA Strike affects you

For almost all television fans – not just die-hards that get jacked for up-fronts – the worst has officially happened. As of 12:01 this past Monday morning, the Writers Guild of America is on strike against the major studios and producers, halting new script production on most shows. The writers have demanded larger residuals on DVD sales and a pay system for the creation of “media items” such as online content.\nThe problem is, I don’t think everyone knows about this catastrophe, or if they do know, they’re not sure exactly what it means. And while this news is disheartening on the surface, the situation is about to get much, much worse.\nFirst, the writers’ choice to strike – which is a valid one – has permitted the programs to have only a limited number of episodes already shot for subsequent weeks. Only a handful have aired, and most shows – like “Heroes” or “Desperate Housewives” – have only 11 or 12 episodes finished, meaning that the networks will only be able to air new scripted programming until Christmas.\nObviously, it’s good that audiences will still have their favorite shows around for a bit longer while the writers behind them spend time chanting, “Network bosses, rich and rude, we don’t like your attitude.” However, if the strike continues after the holidays – a time when most shows take a break – audiences tuning in for new episodes will be met with television poison: reality shows. If you think “The Singing Bee” or “Nashville” were bad, just wait for the junk the networks will trot out in 2008. \nThe only bright light in that situation would be midseason returners and replacements such as “Lost,” or “24,” which have been shooting since the summer, backlogging at least eight episodes. But those shows’ scribes have stopped as well; by March there would be no new scripted shows left on television. \nSecond, the strike will not only affect audiences, but the shows themselves as well. Without scripts to produce, some staff and crew could be laid off, and some shows cancelled completely. Struggling new shows such as “Journeyman” or “Carpoolers” that have yet receive a full season pickup could just as easily be scrapped because the strike will destroy their audiences. The “Heroes” spin-off “Origins” has already been scrapped . Also, the creation of new pilots – which begins to vamp up after the holidays – will suffer massively, meaning the fall 2008 TV season could also be chockfull of awful programming. \nWhile it appears the strike will continue for an significant period of time – a story in Wednesday’s Variety magazine suggests it “could easily bleed into the middle of next year” – there is a faint glimmer of hope remaining. And while the effects won’t be seen as quickly in film, the strike could become a problem in that medium as well, leaving entertainment audiences with virtually nothing original to turn to. Guess that means we are actually going to have to entertain ourselves or get outside and exercise. WGA, producers, please don’t let it come to that.