Strike It Up, You Know How Lonely One Can Feel

Unless you've been living under a rock and/or don't own a television, you probably know about the writer's strike that's been going on for the past few weeks. I don't know all the details, nor do I care to, but it basically boils down to this- the writer's want one thing, the head honchos want another, and us, the viewing public, is forced to sit through the ugly mess like some child of divorce, a la Drew Barrymore in Irreconcilable Differences.

I don't mean to come across as not caring about the specifics but I mean really. To me it just seems like it's a fight between the rich and the richer, a lot like Cinderella's wicked step sisters fighting at the ball. The execs, the writers and the actors who have decided to join the cause- none of these parties are suffering whether they "win" or not. No, the people who suffer are the little guys of the television industry. The production assistants, the costume designers, the lighting crew and of course you and me since pretty soon we'll have nothing to keep us occupied and might be force to (shudder) actually pick up a book or talk to our families.

Not only has this debate divided Hollywood down the middle, it's also caused stars to take a stand whether they wanted to or not. Some shows halted production almost immediately. Saturday Night Live for instance can't very well go live without writers. Then again, given the material that's been on SNL lately, maybe a little late night improv might not be such a bad idea after all.

Ellen DeGeneres took a lot of heat however for remaining on air, something that baffles Ellen herself considering other hosts such as Oprah Winfrey and Rachael Ray have decided to do the same. I think that's a testament to her character. After all, it's not the writers or the executives that are really hurting here, it's the crew who doesn't make nearly as much as the other parties involved. I was hoping that was Ellen's reason and I think it is. I also think it's a testament to how funny she is if she's truly proceeding without writing. I think a lot of live shows shut down out of panic. Then you'd have to know how entertaining the hosts aren't.

There are other shows that continue to march on despite the strike as well- mainly of the reality television drama. Shows like Dancing With the Stars and the upcoming Dance Wars and American Idol don't need scripts to proceed. I also hear they are under a different union so somehow, someway they aren't really effected by the strike. Other reality shows like Amazing Race are already completed filmed so their completion does not hinge one way or another on the strike itself. And then there are the shows that may actually come back early like Big Brother, which just ended in September, since that could take up a few nights of TV and a few thousand brain cells.

Ironically it's a standstill like this that might hurt the writers as the more and more people who are "forced" to watch reality TV may adopt and "out of sight, out of mind" approach to their once beloved TV shows. If you don't believe me, just ask the creators of Lost or Heroes who lost viewers last year after long hiatuses. Attaining success is one thing, but maintaining it is another thing entirely.

So where do we go from here? Well although strikes like this have occurred before, I can't honestly say I remember what happened. Besides the world was a different place then. Online content and reality television as well as lukewarm pilots weren't nearly as plentiful some twenty years ago. Once the strike is settled, do shows simply pick up from where they left off? Depending on how long this takes, when the shows do return, what season are they considered to be in? Are the last episodes we are watching now really the premature season finales?

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am actually one television fan who is okay with the strike for selfish reasons. I need the time to catch up on the shows I've fallen behind on. Finally, I might get a chance to watch shows that have been burning a hole in my tivo like Burn Notice, State of Mind, Eureka and Family Guy. I may even finally get to watch those last three episodes of The OC. Don't go telling me what happened to Seth and Summer. I'll get to it in due time.

So will the night the lights went out in Hollywood be the death of the medium? Me thinks not. It just might mean a lot of crappier television while waiting for the usual crap to come back.