The Strike

I am not a writer. I am a mere college student who loves television, to the extent that I call Wednesday "LOST-day" (even when it's not currently airing, which tends to confuse people...). Thursday is "Office-day," Monday is "Heroes-day." My shows give me something to look forward to, something to get my mind off whatever else is going on. If this strike continues, then Wednesday will just be Wednesday, and all I will have to look forward to is Mexican Lasagna day in my school's cafeteria. All this to say- my life is affected by the strike, and I support the WGA for as long as they need to negotiate to get what they deserve. I know that what I do has no affect on the networks, but for my part I have personally sworn not to download any episodes from iTunes and not to watch anything off the streaming players on ABC.com, NBC.com, etc. This may not be much, but it's what I can do for those who have given me so much. And I don't mean the network execs.

I have come to realize that the biggest problem here is not that there may not be any new episodes of The Office for a while, or that one of my new favorite shows, Chuck, might not get picked up for a full season because of this. The problem is that the entertainment industry is swiftly moving in a new direction. The internet has become a major medium for people to view television. That is a source of revenue for the networks because of the advertisements that play on their websites when people are watching, as well as the money earned from people buying the shows off of iTunes or Amazon. None of the writers are getting compensated for their work. It just isn't right. Networks don't make great television. Writers make great television. I mean, as inspiring as that little peacock logo or the abc-circle thing in the bottom corner of my tv is, I don't care what channel I'm watching. I'm there to hear Damon and Carlton's story about the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. Or to see what else Dwight and Michael can do that makes me laugh so hard it hurts.

This situation needs to be worked out, however long it takes.

From what I've read, the last writers' strike was about 20 years ago. It lasted 22 months. If that happens again...Well, I guess I'll be forced to start doing all my homework.

Stay strong.