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They Write This Stuff?

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By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 22, 2007

Couch potatoes could see more reality shows, more reruns, more game shows, more primetime news programs and possibly some European imports if the folks who write television scripts go on strike next week.

Imagine the horror of a world where we have to spend more time with the Howie Mandels, Drew Careys, Ryan Seacrests and Jeff Foxworthys of the entertainment industry.

Imagine Stone Phillips coming out of his forced retirement to join Ann Curry for a nightly "Dateline NBC."

Imagine more shows like the return of "American Gladiators" with Hulk Hogan as host.

The good news is we probably won't notice this until January.

The networks reportedly have stockpiled enough drama and comedy episodes to get through the November sweeps. And December is traditionally filled with reruns and holiday specials anyway.

The impact on late-night would be more immediate. David Letterman would have to write his own Top 10 List; Jay Leno and Jon Stewart would be winging it without help; and "Saturday Night Live" would go dark.

Most reality shows are unscripted so they would continue. But some, such as ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," have guild contracts and may have to close shop.

A strike is very likely because the contract between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Writers Guild of America expires at midnight on Oct. 31 and the 12,000 members of the writers' union are prepared to walk on Nov. 1.

Reportedly, studio heads and network executives aren't rushing to settle. Apparently, some of the Hollywood suits think the fall season isn't going all that great anyway.

The strike includes script writers of feature films but the movie industry has enough in production to fill theater screens through 2008.

If there is a prolonged strike, movie-goers might notice more foreign, independent and animated films come 2009. Some clunkers that would have gone straight to DVD will get theatrical release.

The last time a writers strike occurred was in 1988, lasting 22 weeks costing the industry as a whole more than $500 million. It was over getting a piece of the action from the video rental business.

The reason for this new strike is the writers want more compensation for DVD sales as well as a cut of the income from online and on-demand distribution of television series and movies.

Writers are usually the lowest paid creative creatures in the Hollywood food chain (until they become writer/producers) and they deserve a fair share as long as there is profit to be made from what they created.

No one knows for sure how emerging technologies will shake out. The video rental business, for example, isn't want it used to be.

Looking ahead to the future, television writers want to be covered in case we are headed toward a time more people are downloading "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives" into iPods and laptops than watching them on broadcast television.

The possibility of a writers' strike has been brewing since early summer. It has already kept some of the low performing new series on the air. And there's a chance that some of the underachievers such as "Cavemen" and "K-vile" will get to stick around longer because a strike prevents the development of replacements. It also will hamper the development of pilots for the 2008-2009 TV season.

Another strike-created programming possibility is series that have be shown on cable networks such as "Monk," "Psych," "The Closer," "Burn Notice," "Eureka" and "The 4400" could air as filler on the broadcast networks.

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