Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick...
No that clock you hear - which is very annoying, by the way - is not "60 Minutes" but the clock clicking the moments away until Thursday morning when the Writers Guild of America very likely calls a strike against the industry. Very likely, I say, because it's looking real bad from where I sit, and while the sun could break through the ominous clouds at any minute (or, just to
continue mixing my metaphors, that stupid clock could stop ticking) it doesn't seem likely at this point.
Producers submitted another proposal last week and so far, silence from the writers. Nick Counter, head of the producers' Alliance told TV Week that "we'll continue to negotiate until we reach an agreement irrespective of whether they strike. I told them this morning [last week]: They can strike for six months or 12 months or 24 months; at some point we have to reach an agreement. There are no divorces in our industry. It's just a question of when and how much damage is caused."
Yes, that does sound ominous. So what happens? Lots and lots of things. No, David Letterman won't sit there mutely, but he will be hard-pressed to write his own Top Ten every night. No, Jay Leno won't ditch his monologue, but it won't last half the show anymore either. No, Stephen Colbert won't end his run for the presidency, but he's gonna have a hard time writing both his own show AND his own speeches. And just when we started to like "Grey's Anatomy" again
(sort of, sometimes...OK, I'm STILL bugged by that George/Izzy thing), we'll have to get used to repeats. (And when we get more details on the impact of the strike on "Late Show" et al, we'll post 'em right here.)
Consider the '88 strike as template for '07 (that one lasted about five months): The producers let the writers twist in agony; the writers let the producers (who happen to also be the networks) live with repeats.
Ratings decline, and suddenly, shows like "The Biggest Loser" become the most watched programs in the land (not really, but...)
By the way, for an interesting take on where producers stand, go to Nikki Finke's must-read "Deadline Hollywood" blog; this recent posting even suggests that the networks would WELCOME a strike because of the lousy ratings for so much of the new season fare...