HollywoodIdiocy.com

Charlie may be drowned and dead on Lost, but actor Dominic Monaghan is anything but; the actor is landing feet-first with a plum role in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie, which will focus in on the solo adventures of Hugh Jackman’s character.

Although his longevity may not be the stuff of low term life insurance quotes, Monaghan’s character in the mutant action film will be a character called Blackwing, whose powers are similar to Angel’s, the bird-like flying character in 2006’s X-Men 3: The Last Stand.

Like many former Lost-ies, Monaghan’s run on the ABC drama has earned him a rep as a hot property in Hollywood and adding this talented actor to the cast seems certain to further cement interest in the next X-flick.

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It hasn’t even happened yet and already HollyLibs are preparing for it like the second coming … of Ishtar. That’s right, the Hollywood screenwriters are about to go on strike … again.

Now, at issue are legitimate concerns. Studios are making tons off new revenue streams like DVD sales, cellphone deliveries, iPod sales and so forth; and the writers responsible for all that downloadable IP aren’t exactly getting their cut. That’s wrong.

But beware! Does anyone remember the consequences the last time HollyWriters went on strike? Hollywood proved it could adapt by developing an all-new, writer-less form of TV: reality program.

Some of the shows launched back then still survive to this day, including the one that nearly started it all, at least on network television: Survivor. Also still around are summer fare like Big Brother. And their progeny have littered network schedules ever since, to the chagrin of the creators of scripted dramas and comedies.

In fact, only in the last couple years have scripted shows really started to overcome the reality show challenge. Shows like Heroes and Lost and 24 and Prison Break have won back all the momentum lost during the last big writers strike.

I’m not saying the battle’s not worth fighting; it is. But beware of taking it all the way to a strike; beware of the very real risks of stretching out such a strike for too long.

Studios, too, need to beware of becoming too unreasonable in withholdiing the writers’ fair share of new revenue streams. Face is, studio bosses, without writers, you’re screwed into the corner of airing lots of sports, reality shows and other such fare. While much of it may indeed draw ratings, what must be kept in mind is even reality TV has a saturation point, and while a brief revival may help, it’s not a long-term solution.

Ratings of network TV has declined steadily since the last time the writers went on an extended strike. Deal fairly with them and either prevent the strike or keep it brief by dealing fairly.

Otherwise, folks just may stay tuned to their iPods, PS3s, Web browsers and endless supply of DVD libraries far longer than you think. The audience may indeed be hard to win back, once they realize home much other entertainment is out there to be had, and how little they actually need to find out whether the cheerleader will continue to be saved on Heroes, or whether House will ever settle on a new team of doc interns, or whether Losties will ever truly be… Found.

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