Television thread

[Velorath]

I'm liking Smallville a lot more than Buffy simply because it's.... Superman. I agree about it spinning it's wheels though. But I find that Buffy does the same. I mentioned above that both have a similar formula. Only instead of the Hellmouth, it's the Meteor Rocks with Smallville. When they stop wasting time and get to the main storylines though, Smallville is more interesting to me.

I think it's generally referred to as the "monster of the week" formula.  Smallville has never felt like Superman to me.  Superman isn't about ancient prophesies drawn on cave walls by Native Americans, and love triangles between Clark, Lana, and Lex.

[stray]

Heh, I'm a sucker for Native American clichés. I think the show would have been best served being told as a miniseries or something, but there's still enough of the whole Superman mythos here to keep me interested. Better than other TV show attempts at least. And better than that Singer flick.

[Evildrider]

Heh, I'm a sucker for Native American clichés. I think the show would have been best served being told as a miniseries or something, but there's still enough of the whole Superman mythos here to keep me interested. Better than other TV show attempts at least. And better than that Singer flick.

I watch Smallville too.  I kind of lost track of it around season 3-4 but got back into it.  The newer seasons are what got me back into watching, as it moved away from the whole "dawsons creek" vibe I got from when they were still in high school. 

The mythology isn't too bad, at least they do give reasons and explain more as you go along in the series. 

[Abagadro]

I think Meg and the hotdogs on Family Guy tonight was the raunchiest thing I have ever seen on network TV.

[Margalis]

Couldn't get into Smallville at all.  There have been some decent episodes (the Red Kryptonite stuff in particular), but the show spends way too much time spinning it's wheels.

The only eps of Smallville I've liked are the ones with Sarah Carter and the red kryptonite, mostly because Sarah Carter was hot as hell in those.

[Merusk]

Writer's strike! 

So no more Daily Show for a bit. Guess I'll read instead.. damn books!

[Sky]

Smallville had a lot of potential. The monster of the week thing hurt it alot, and I stopped watching when they brought in Lois. They had such a great love triangle thing with Lana/Clark/Chloe and then Chloe starts writing things under the pen name Lois...best moment in the series imo.

Best superman-y moment for me (remembering I dropped out in what, 2nd season or so) was when he accidentally flew when Lana was trapped in the pickup in the tornado.

[Riggswolfe]

This writer's strike is going to piss me off. It may cost a few new shows any chance at renewing, including Chuck which is among my favorite shows on TV. (in fact, I'd say only Dexter beats it.)

Fuck writers. Fuck producers. Fuck TV executives. This is why I went for a decade and watched maybe one series that whole time.

[DraconianOne]

Writers strike is going to have a bigger effect on TV sooner rather than later.  All the major showrunners have said that they will not cross the picket lines and will not work on any more episodes in a producer capacity.

That basically means that any shows that aren't yet in the can won't get completed.  Expect to see shows dry up in the next couple of weeks.

Pencils Down Means Pencils Down

[tazelbain]

So Chuck's Stanford professor was testing out Intersect technology as bonus questions on his tests.  Chuck scored extremely well, which is why Bryce knew Chuck could absorb it.

[Trippy]

Writers strike is going to have a bigger effect on TV sooner rather than later.  All the major showrunners have said that they will not cross the picket lines and will not work on any more episodes in a producer capacity.

That basically means that any shows that aren't yet in the can won't get completed.  Expect to see shows dry up in the next couple of weeks.

Pencils Down Means Pencils Down

Shows that have stockpiled scripts in anticipation of the strike can continue to shoot until they run out of scripts. Most of the major scripted TV shows (not counting talk shows) have scripts to last them through this year.

[stray]

If there's any type of job with a limitless amount of scabs, it would be writers.

[DraconianOne]

Shows that have stockpiled scripts in anticipation of the strike can continue to shoot until they run out of scripts. Most of the major scripted TV shows (not counting talk shows) have scripts to last them through this year.

It's not going to prove quite that simple.  Just about all the major shows have writers on set to help with script changes as and when needed but they're not going to be there for a start.  The point about the showrunners not crossing the line is that they're not going to do any work that could, in any way, be seen as affecting the writing - including editing.  

An email from Shawn Ryan (creator of The Shield and The Unit) probably sums it up.

[DraconianOne]

If there's any type of job with a limitless amount of scabs, it would be writers.

You're not wrong.

The WGA has basically promised to not accept anyone who crosses the picket line as a member in the future.  This will effectively mean that people who do so won't be able to get jobs with contracted companies after the strike is over.  Similarly WGGB members, while feasibly able to work for members of the AMPTP, will be shooting themselves in the foot with regard to future work - all for the sake of a quick and easy payday now.  There's a lot of solidarity here amongst writers for the strike.  Mainly because what they're striking about will have an impact for them too.

[Riggswolfe]

If there's any type of job with a limitless amount of scabs, it would be writers.

Actually no. The problem is, that if you are a scab, you can never join the WGA and it is pretty much the only game in town in Hollywood. So, nope. This strike is gonna cripple the entertainment industry, especially television.

[stray]

Not really saying anyone's going to do that. Just making a joke. 

....Though it should be said that thousands out there will struggle to attain WGA+Hollywood employment status no matter how respectful and dilligent they are. There's bound to be a few who probably wouldn't mind cashing in for the short term, thinking that's the best they'll get anyways.

[Trippy]

Shows that have stockpiled scripts in anticipation of the strike can continue to shoot until they run out of scripts. Most of the major scripted TV shows (not counting talk shows) have scripts to last them through this year.

It's not going to prove quite that simple.  Just about all the major shows have writers on set to help with script changes as and when needed but they're not going to be there for a start.  The point about the showrunners not crossing the line is that they're not going to do any work that could, in any way, be seen as affecting the writing - including editing.  

An email from Shawn Ryan (creator of The Shield and The Unit) probably sums it up.

Doesn't mean that production on those shows is going to stop it just means they'll have to make due without that help.

[HaemishM]

As a writer myself, I'm totally behind the writer's strike. Both DVD and Internet revenues are going to be the money of the future, and they deserve to get their piece of that pie just like the Screen Actor's Guild and the production companies. The fact that the writers took DVD revenue off the table and the companies still gave them a big FU is fucking sickening.

[Riggswolfe]

As a writer myself, I'm totally behind the writer's strike. Both DVD and Internet revenues are going to be the money of the future, and they deserve to get their piece of that pie just like the Screen Actor's Guild and the production companies. The fact that the writers took DVD revenue off the table and the companies still gave them a big FU is fucking sickening.

I am very selfishly pissed at all sides, but intellectually I side with the writers. The executives are being pricks and so everyone is suffering. I think they're hoping that the writers will cave and come back for whatever scraps they throw to them. I'm sure part of this also boils down to the fact that revenue for all parties in television is shrinking as they lose audience to cable and the internet and so everyone is getting selfish to hold on to what little is left.

[HaemishM]

That's part of it. The revenue from broadcasting on the TV is shrinking, but they networks are replacing that revenue with ad revenue from replaying the episodes on the Internet, and the DVD box sales have been a huge boon (though one that's fizzling out these days). The networks want to keep that DVD gravy train coming as long as possible, just like they did with syndication money a few years ago. And the Internet revenue, they are just figuring out how much of that money has just been left on the table while they fought against offering show downloads.

[Sky]

Writer strike during one of the greatest game release cycles ever? Eh, ok. Thanks, actually.

[murdoc]

Writer strike during one of the greatest game release cycles ever? Eh, ok. Thanks, actually.

Agree ++

[Rasix]

Yah, no shit.  Thanks guys.  Now I can catch up on all of the books waiting on my shelves, movies I haven't seen, and gaming backlog. 

 

I'll really only be pissed if this affects BSG (which I guess it will).  Other TV, ehh, I'll be OK without it.

Edit: come to think of it, this is really only slightly more annoying than a MLB, NHL or NBA strike. 

[Riggswolfe]

I'll really only be pissed if this affects BSG (which I guess it will).  Other TV, ehh, I'll be OK without it.

Since BSG isn't coming out until April now and is going to split its final season into 2 parts I'm on the verge of not giving a shit about how it all ends now. Really, the only characters in that show I still care about are Adama, hot blond cylon, Gaius, and hot Asian cylon.

[HaemishM]

Brian K. Vaughn talking about the Writer's Strike.

There's some seriously fucked up shit in there. The Writer's currently get 4 cents per DVD sold. 4 FUCKING CENTS. They were asking for 8 cents.

It just boggles my fucking mind. The creators of these things that sell for $100 box sets and they get 4 pennies and some asshead is bitching about giving them 8 pennies. That's fucking criminal.

[Ookii]

Look it's all your favorite tv shows going on hiatus for a year

I'll really only be pissed if this affects BSG (which I guess it will).  Other TV, ehh, I'll be OK without it.

Outside of Universal this morning was the bearded one himself, ["Battlestar Galactica" showrunner] Ron Moore, picketing the Universal Studios Gates with the entire writing staff.

[Evil Elvis]

I'll really only be pissed if this affects BSG (which I guess it will).  Other TV, ehh, I'll be OK without it.

Since BSG isn't coming out until April now and is going to split its final season into 2 parts I'm on the verge of not giving a shit about how it all ends now. Really, the only characters in that show I still care about are Adama, hot blond cylon, Gaius, and hot Asian cylon.

Spoiler: http://home.comcast.net/~daelus/bsg-spoiler.jpg

[Trippy]

Brian K. Vaughn talking about the Writer's Strike.

There's some seriously fucked up shit in there. The Writer's currently get 4 cents per DVD sold. 4 FUCKING CENTS. They were asking for 8 cents.

It just boggles my fucking mind. The creators of these things that sell for $100 box sets and they get 4 pennies and some asshead is bitching about giving them 8 pennies. That's fucking criminal.

And that was supposedly the sticking point in their negotiations until the WGA dropped it at the last minute and the studios still wouldn't budge on the Internet, aka "New Media", stuff.

[Trippy]

Look it's all your favorite tv shows going on hiatus for a year

As I said above picketing showrunners doesn't mean those shows will stop production on the scripts they already have written.

On the other hand...

Joss Whedon reports that his old "Buffy" actors Alyson Hannigan (now on "How I Met Your Mother") and David Boreanaz (now on "Bones") were both picketing alongside the writers outside the Fox lot.

Well fuck that means no more new Bones epsidoes other than the ones they have already filmed.

[Ookii]

Look it's all your favorite tv shows going on hiatus for a year

As I said above picketing showrunners doesn't mean those shows will stop production on the scripts they already have written.

From the link

“We have non-writing producers on the show who are perfectly capable of doing any non-writing producing duties,” Mr. Daniels said. “They want me do to writing-producing and just pretend it’s producing. Every decision you make has a writing aspect to it. If they really just thought it was producing, they could just as easily get somebody else to do these tasks."

It would seem as if you need writers even while filming to rewrite scenes on the fly and the like.  I'm sure The Office is more akin to this than other shows, but I don't think the writers write a script and the directors film it verbatim.  It's a living process.

[Trippy]

They can manage without having the real writers around (sitcoms less so, though).

[Triforcer]

I didn't know until now that writers were unionized.  Seems odd, given that shows can get cancelled at any time and the usual union restrictions about layoffs would be out the window.

[Abagadro]

I'm no expert on labor relations, but I believe anyone can collectively bargain for a contract, regardless of whether they are technically a "union." I believe they distinguish themselves specifically as a "guild" rather than a union and don't have NLRB protection. They enforce things not based upon the unionization, "closed shop", employment position based concepts but upon the promise that if anyone goes outside the guild system they will be blackballed. It's really an old school model.

[stray]

Guild. Correct. Same with actors and filmmakers...Though the union stuff comes into play every once in awhile.

[Margalis]

Hollywood is very highly regulated. It's really a marvel, especially compared to software engineering, how they can keep things largely on-time and on-budget while negotiating a morass of regulations.

Nobody is going to give me a "hell yeah" for the Sarah Carter eps of Smallville?