HollywoodIdiocy.com

Producers aren’t exactly inviting writers to a cozy weekend getaway at a Colorado bed and breakfast, but at least the two sides are talking again. The post-Thanksgiving efforts to resume negotiations have several TV writers and stars optimistic for an early resolution to the standoff between the Writers Guild of America and the Hollywood producers.

In fact, 30 Rock writer-producer Tina Fey, star of the NBC hit comedy, was recently seen in a video posted on TVSquad.com in which she says she’s optimistic that a resolution may be as close as a week away. That’s great news to TV viewers already annoyed that some of their shows didn’t get a full November sweeps run. The strike will definitely make TV-land more barren in December than it normally is, and if the strike drags on much longer, there could be no February sweeps to speak of, at least not in the normal, full-schedule sense of the word.

Let’s hope things go short and work out well for the writers; if they can get back in front of their word processors prior for a couple weeks prior to the winter holiday season, February sweeps could still be salvaged, as well as the seasons of most shows currently on strike-induced hiatus.

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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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