Strike

My lack of confidence and belief in my own limited intelligence/vocabulary prevents me from giving a fully articulated post about what is going on right now. My job is not greatly affected by the strike and it's still business as usual. Still, being part of the improv community and a former Late Show intern, I know a great deal of people that are being affected by this and, being a middle-class white guy with black frame glasses, I fully hope to one day be in the WGA. I hope to make a living writing something that I'm proud of and I hope to be able to live off residuals when my employer figures out I'm just recycling material from Late World with Zach. It moves/touches/makes me have the feel goods when I see such a united front against what amounts to a circa Civil War-esque Tony Stark/S.H.I.E.L.D. organization (did you think I'd make it without a comic reference?).

Here are some strike-related links.

Late Show Writers On Strike
Deadline Hollywood Daily
Mike Still's writer's strike thoughts
Chris Gethard's writer's strike thoughts
The Office writers on strike video
Entertainment Weekly article
The super long but super informative WGA strike thread on the Improv Resource Center

My picture came from UCB NY alum and current UCB LA performer Eric Appel's flickr collection, viewable here. This is probably one of the best things to look at since it puts a real face on the strike. You won't recognize 90% of the people in these photos (although the pic of Jess Jackson with Tom Arnold is near pricless, as is the rest of Day 5) which completely destroys the argument that the writers are all a bunch of millionaires wanting to attach two-story arcades to their mansions.

I'm fine with this surprisingly strong TV season being cut short. Actually, in a season that has seen Desperate Housewives make a comeback, 30 Rock's handful of episodes destroy last season, and freshman breaths of fresh air Reaper and Chuck, it should be more apparent than ever that writers are absolutely essential to television. Today, the networks announced the trash that will be taking over the airwaves come 2008. Get a load of this, from today's Cynopsis:

Duel (ABC) "In this gamer, players have to bluff well to win."
Million Dollar Password (CBS) with Regis Philbin
Do You Trust Me (CBS) with Tucker Carlson
American Gladiator (NBC) with Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali

Amnesia (NBC) with Dennis Miller

The Moment of Truth (Fox)

And don't forget returning favorites Supernanny, Wife Swap, Big Brother, Survivor, The Amazing Race, 1 vs. 100, Deal Or No Deal, American Idol, Hell's Kitchen, Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?, Don't Forget The Lyrics!, America's Next Top Model, Beauty & the Geek, and last and least...Pussycat Dolls.

And I'm not watching any of it. Matter of fact, once new episodes run out, I will not be watching any television or downloading/viewing anything online. It's all I can do to support the strike, I think, and I'll do it.