The end of Television?
Is television done for?
The Writer's Strike has only gone into its third day and not many shows have felt the sting yet (only live comedy-interview type shows), but the implications are grand if this thing goes on for a very, very long time... like a year. Writers want residual royalties off of various forms of new media distribution, and no agreement seems to be in sight between the powers that be in any capacity.
Now, if this year's television season is lost to the strike (after finished episodes have been aired and reruns ensue), might people get unplugged from the TV for good? Might some shows, like Scrubs, who have not scripted a series finale, go gently into the night? Might serial shows like Lost lose their fanbase, especially after last year's 6-episodes-and-out-for-4-months debacle and not planning on starting to air until January of this year? If they air an abbreviated 8-episode season with a reportedly ill-placed-for-a-finale cliffhanger... could this cause fans to finally throw up their arms?
Film studios have lots of stuff on backlog that they can release, and can do rereleases without having to deal with writers... they can survive for a long time. I mean, Indiana Jones is scripted, The Dark Knight is scripted, so they've got blockbusters up the wazoo to still release.
Television's a different beast, whose turnaround on a completed unit of video is a lot quicker. Without new episodes, what will happen? Will reruns hurt ad revenues? Will networks crumble?
What will take the place of TV when everyone realizes that the entertainment they are getting from it won't be back for a while, except in reruns? Will tickets for sporting events rise in demand, and cost in turn? Will people start playing more video games or watching more DVDs (which still won't get WGA members their residuals) to get their screen fix? Will people take up hobbies, like Gulf War trading card speculation?
On that last one, I surely hope so. Mark's close to having a complete set, and he's waiting for his ship to come in.
The Writer's Strike has only gone into its third day and not many shows have felt the sting yet (only live comedy-interview type shows), but the implications are grand if this thing goes on for a very, very long time... like a year. Writers want residual royalties off of various forms of new media distribution, and no agreement seems to be in sight between the powers that be in any capacity.
Now, if this year's television season is lost to the strike (after finished episodes have been aired and reruns ensue), might people get unplugged from the TV for good? Might some shows, like Scrubs, who have not scripted a series finale, go gently into the night? Might serial shows like Lost lose their fanbase, especially after last year's 6-episodes-and-out-for-4-months debacle and not planning on starting to air until January of this year? If they air an abbreviated 8-episode season with a reportedly ill-placed-for-a-finale cliffhanger... could this cause fans to finally throw up their arms?
Film studios have lots of stuff on backlog that they can release, and can do rereleases without having to deal with writers... they can survive for a long time. I mean, Indiana Jones is scripted, The Dark Knight is scripted, so they've got blockbusters up the wazoo to still release.
Television's a different beast, whose turnaround on a completed unit of video is a lot quicker. Without new episodes, what will happen? Will reruns hurt ad revenues? Will networks crumble?
What will take the place of TV when everyone realizes that the entertainment they are getting from it won't be back for a while, except in reruns? Will tickets for sporting events rise in demand, and cost in turn? Will people start playing more video games or watching more DVDs (which still won't get WGA members their residuals) to get their screen fix? Will people take up hobbies, like Gulf War trading card speculation?
On that last one, I surely hope so. Mark's close to having a complete set, and he's waiting for his ship to come in.