I have two brief thoughts for you about things related to the WGA strike and then I promise I’ll give it a rest for a while. Or, rather, try to cover it in a way that’s more interesting than me rambling about my opinions. Plus, I really do have TV to talk about. I’m slowly, but surely, catching up on my backlog of shows and I need people to discuss them with! But first…

TV fans are awesome but I kind of feel like we’re all racing to do anything to help right now and, as a result, starting a bunch of “campaigns” without truly thinking them through. The DON’T WATCH TV one is the worst. It seems to me that falling ratings only work against the WGA. More ammunition for the AMPTP to use as an excuse for why they don’t want to give the writers their residuals. I get asking people not to watch the replacement shows that will surely be thrown on the air but those are at least two to three months out. If the strike is still going when those start appearing, then you call for people to boycott the shows. I’m torn about the idea of not downloading or watching TV online. On the one hand, it does feel wrong to me to do either of those when writers (or actors) are getting paid for it. On the other, doesn’t that also help the AMPTP’s argument? It’s all so tricky. That said, I love all of those who have been sending the writers food because nothing says “We support you!” like a good snack. I just hope people are still doing that in a month or two (assuming this lasts that long).

Note: Get your own “fans support the writers” graphic at lexigeek.com.

ETA: I had to come back and make it clear that I’m not bashing TV fans and what they’re doing. Not at all. Merely commenting on two ideas I’ve seen out there that I’m not completely sure help as much as it seems at first. And if you’re a TV fan, doesn’t matter of what show or genre, be sure to check out fans4writers.org for how you can join other fans in helping the cause.

Meanwhile, the studios saying “We’ll be fine until June ‘08″ pisses me off every time I hear it. It’s indicative of the way they approached these negotiations in the first place. It’s all about their bottom line. Are advertisers really going to be ‘fine’ with what the replacements they shove on the air? I don’t believe they won’t be taking a hit in the Spring if this continues. What about the implications a lengthy strike will have on the industry as a whole? Are they incapable of looking ahead and seeing, while they might be OK financially, the viewers they’d lose in those seven months will have have a huge impact on the industry overall and will ultimately cost them money in the next several years? Not to mention that, yes, the network executives will be fine but more than half of the people that currently work for them will be out of jobs. They can sell it any way they want but it’s clear this has always been about how much $$$$ they can make and screw the people who make it happen. And they have the press calling the writers greedy. HA.