What am I going to do tonight?
It may seem like deja vu when you check out your late-night viewing pleasures.
Writers for television shows and films have gone on strike and now we are actually being forced to watch reruns of our favourite talk shows or pick up a book (gasp).
The main issues between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers is shares of DVD sales and internet revenues. The last strike by writers lasted 22 weeks in 1988.
You may be asking “what does this mean to me?” Well, do you like watching American programming? If you do this means a heck of a lot. Almost every prime time show may be stuck on rerun mode if this strike lasts long enough and there are some immediate effects as well.
Late night talk shows appear to be the first to be hit by the strike. Shows like David Letterman, Jay Leno, and Conan O’Brien tonight will look familiar because they will not be new episodes. Next up will be daytime talk shows and soap operas. They record their shows a day or two (maybe even three) in advance and we will have to wait to see the reruns. Finally we have to suffer through new episodes of primetime dramas and comedies for a month or two before finally getting into the repeats.
So what am I going to do tonight? I can’t watch my favourite late night shows. As you may have heard on our station this morning, one man told reporter Kevin Misener he will just have to sit and stare at his dog with a bag of potato chips. Since I don’t have a dog, I find it appalling that I may have to pick up a book and read a book.
Let’s all hope and pray this strike comes to an end as soon as possible.