Hollywood Writer’s Strike
I’m sure most of you have heard that many of the screenwriter’s are on strike. Some of you may have been wondering if I have been on strike since it has been awhile since my last blog posting. I’ve been busy with other internet ventures…good times! Back to the issue at hand. For many Americans, this is a crushing blow to their daily intake of news from late night talk shows. Surprisingly, many people actually do rely on Jay Leno to tell them what is going on in the world and also whom to vote for in the next election.
A few things come to my mind when I think about this. First, I’ve never really thought in depth about the things that Americans take for granted, but I think this is one of them. Being that we are a nation of freedom, we enjoy our freedoms liberally. Television, sports, plays, etc. We love to be entertained with mostly mindless junk. Don’t get me wrong, I like to watch T.V. just as much as the next guy, but have we taken it too far? We spend billions per year on entertainment related stuff. I have no doubt that this writer’s strike will have some impact on the economy simply due to the sheer amount of cash we lay out. There is something wrong here. Personally speaking, our cable company just announced a rate hike. They also announced that there will be less channels for that amount. Seems like a great deal. I’m cancelling it along with my 50 dollar a month internet.
I guess there really isn’t a number two. Or three. They shouldn’t hire me to write for T.V. Although, i am sure there are scads of students and aspiring writers out there that would jump at the chance to write for T.V. We could also outsource all of the late night T.V. writing to Bollywood. They will gladly work for a dollar or two a word. And, they actually have some very good cinema. Hollywood studio people, do you hear me? Outsource. it isn’t much different than a call center (someone had to write their scripts, too!).
That is all. Oh yeah, I would work for a dollar or two a word as well. I guess we will have to buy DVD on TV or download old stuff from Amazon.
Hi Tony! It’s about time you get back to blogging. Ha Ha.
Cable is still cheap entertainment when you think about it. $1.50 a day. What can you do for 24 hours at that cost?
Glad to hear your saving some cash by giving the Cable company the can.
But what are you going to do without the internet?
Hi Jeff! My guess to your question is that Tony will be spending his $50.00 a month at the coffee shops and using their ‘free’ wireless. *smile*
Well. If there has to be an entertainment industry…I think everyone should be treated fairly which it sounds like the writers are not getting their fair share. So really I don’t think the writers are to blame it is the production studios/networks that are being stingy.
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Bill, you’re right, it is cheap entertainment. The problem that I have is that nearly every show that I watch I can get for free online. I don’t watch all 75 channels or whatever we get. My wife doesn’t either. Truth be told, she would be just fine if all we had was PBS.
Jeff and Bill, I guess that I should have mentioned that I have a cellular laptop card for internet that I am already paying for and don’t use. I am actually thinking about canceling that as well. I have internet access at work, so I’m really not that concerned about it. I can bring my laptop when I go to the gym, log on to the network and go to town. I can print to file all the stuff that I need to print and then print it all out when I get home. If I do cancel all of that it would be a savings per month of nearly 200 bucks.
Amy, I hope that I didn’t come across as being against the writers. I’m just fascinated that there is a multi-billion dollar industry that thrives on people pretending to be other people for the sake of our enjoyment. Of course, play acting has been around forever, but I’m certain that Bill Shakespeare didn’t get a million per play. Maybe I’m just jealous that I get paid a few hundred per 12 hour episode? And don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love movies and some T.V. But the industry seems to have gotten pretty out of control.
On a side note, I’m all for capitalism. These writers do have a ‘product’ that they are selling and they should be able to get top dollar for that product in this free market. However, this may be a sign of our weakening dollar, bad economy, and billions of dollars spent on a land war in the desert. Truth-be-told, I was pro-war at the beginning because of the ‘facts’. I do think that insane people should be taken out of power if at all possible. They are lunatics running governments all over the place, elected or unelected. And don’t tell me that the war is about oil. We get most of our oil from Canada and Mexico. And ethanol as we know it is not the answer either. Ethanol is the cause of a huge rise in the price in the grocery store. It is great for farmers, though. I heard a report from one farmer that sold 40 percent of his crop to the plant. That is more than he got paid for it at the elevator, I’m sure. The problem is, is that no one is using ethanol. The government is pushing ethanol. We could probably import sugar based ethanol from Brazil and come out way ahead on this deal. Wow! < ./tangent>