This afternoon while perusing perezhilton, I couldn't resist linking to a youtube video of Patrick McDreamy, er Dempsey, supporting the writer's strike. This led me to a website with several videos made by casts/writers of very popular shows in support of the strike - The Office, Lost, Grey's, Desperate Housewives.
McDreamy is so cool, he's fighting for the cause! (Yeah, so is everyone else, but no one looks as good as he does doing it.)
As I watched these videos, I learned that those bigwigs in the network towers don't share the revenue they receive from internet downloads - either on their own site or through iTunes - with the writers and actors. I also learned that writers get like 0.3% of all revenue from DVD sales of the shows.
To me, this is absurd. Good TV is all about the writing. A movie may be able to get away a little bit more with explosions and sexiness and gore, but if TV scripts suck, the show is going down the drain. Once again the corporate conglomerates in this country are exploiting the minions who do the real work and getting rich from someone else's efforts. Ratings are down this year, and I'd wager a big part of that is the availability of shows online. Internet viewing is definitely the future of "television."
It's not fair, and it sucks. So I'm going on strike, too. No more internet TV for me until Hollywood gives the writers what they deserve. You have no idea how much this pains me...I'm like four episodes away from finishing Season 3 of Grey's Anatomy and was planning on catching up with the latest season on the internet.
Visit the Writer's Guild YouTube page for all the videos from random Hollywood types.
As I watched these videos, I learned that those bigwigs in the network towers don't share the revenue they receive from internet downloads - either on their own site or through iTunes - with the writers and actors. I also learned that writers get like 0.3% of all revenue from DVD sales of the shows.
To me, this is absurd. Good TV is all about the writing. A movie may be able to get away a little bit more with explosions and sexiness and gore, but if TV scripts suck, the show is going down the drain. Once again the corporate conglomerates in this country are exploiting the minions who do the real work and getting rich from someone else's efforts. Ratings are down this year, and I'd wager a big part of that is the availability of shows online. Internet viewing is definitely the future of "television."
It's not fair, and it sucks. So I'm going on strike, too. No more internet TV for me until Hollywood gives the writers what they deserve. You have no idea how much this pains me...I'm like four episodes away from finishing Season 3 of Grey's Anatomy and was planning on catching up with the latest season on the internet.
Visit the Writer's Guild YouTube page for all the videos from random Hollywood types.
5 comments:
What do you think about the fact that Ellen is still doing her show while all the other talk shows have gone dark? I can't decide. She made a nice speech about them, but it seems like a cop out.
Writers always get the shaft. I always think that when I watch the Oscars. Because, you know, nobody can look great on screen without something great to say. (Says the writer...)
God, Patrick Dempsey is pretty. Even when he's mad. Yum.
Good writers make for good TV - bottom line - and if they're not getting the credit and compensation they deserve, then good for them for striking.
I don't know what to make of Ellen's actions. I saw a quick clip of her talking about how "plans" had been made, people had flown out, etc...which ok, to an extent. Film the shows that were planned, MAYBE, but don't plan new ones. Then again, all other talk shows have stopped, so it's not the greatest show of solidarity. I read today that she was kind of crappy to the writers on her sitcom. And that makes me sad.
today i walked past the wga workers on strike at the Rockefeller center, and i have to say that i really wanted to be on the picket line with them. whether acknowledged or not, writing is the most valuable commodity in the industry, and i'm glad that fact is being brought to the attention of the general public. plus, i was under the impression that tina fey couldn't get more attractive, but now i'm proven wrong.
seriously, i walked into saks fifth ave today and thought i could perhaps buy a scarf for the horrible weather in new york. but the cheapest i found there was $265.
i'm pretty sure there's a tie in with the wga strike smewhere, but i'll leave it to you decide what that connection is.
take away the cornerstones and you take away the rest of it as well. how's that?
all i want to know is: when will dunder mifflin start producing paper again?
wow. i wrote that when i was really really really drunk. why? i have no idea.
i should have bought that scarf.
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