Say It Ain’t So

The strike, the strike. That damn'd Writer's Strike!

It appears that my favorite shows will continue to be on hiatus as the Writer's Guild of America attempts to coerce the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTA) to satisfy their demands.

To date, the strike has lasted 9 weeks and 3 days according to wikipedia, with shows such as Private Practice and Pushing Daisy's (two of my favorites) among those whose production has come to a halt until the savage beast we have come to know as the WGA, can be soothed.

However, on January 2nd, David Letterman returned to night time tv with a full writing staff after their demands were negotiated and met by Worldwide Pants, Letterman's production company.

And lucky me, Grey's Anatomy returns tonight with an all-new episode. Hopefully the first all-new episode of many for the rest of the season.

Hey, it's something, and I'll take it!

Being that the strike was organized by the Writer's Guild, it seems a little odd that factions of that guild would return to work while others wait to have their terms accepted. Guild spokesmen refer to the return of Letterman's show as their "Trojan Horse". They contend that, as a result of Letterman's writers getting what they asked, the other writers's demands will come to the attention of show producers and apparently save them all. As if other show producers are hiding with their heads in the sand and have no idea what the writers are demanding if they are to return to work.

This, quite frankly, sounds like a lame excuse for why writer's of one show are getting what they want as other writer's man the picket lines until their terms can be met. Were they striking then, as an organization? Or as teams of writers assigned by show?

Hopefully, this is an indicator that the Guild does not have the stamina to really "stick it to" the networks and their show producers until the bitter end. That would, indeed, be great news for those of us who are nervously pacing in front of our televisions and obsessively checking the next days tv schedule to see if our favorite show has been reinstated.

But, the last Writer's strike, which took place in 1988, lasted for 21 weeks.

God, help us all.