Grid Effect

Welcome back to the work week. Thanksgiving was time consuming and trying, and it doesn’t make matters any better when you’re under the weather and traveling. None the less we’re back, albeit late and unceremoniously, given that it’s has been an understandably slow news week in TV Land.

A couple links for you to kick off the week: First, here’s an array of photos from the strike, featuring some recognizable faces. If you don’t have nay idea what the scene is like out in Hollywood, this is the best illustration via still shots we can find. Larry David, as usual, looks unimpressed and indifferent, but I guess by virtue of being there he actually has a stake in this. But, for the most part, it’s a gathering of unrecognizable faces holding up signs with hyperbolic statements and quotes from historical figures about the importance of the union. Such as the one below.

Seems like a fair request.

Also, if those pictures are any indication, Alicia Keys performed at this thing, making it not a strike but a writer’s Woodstock. Which, given the mindset of most of the writers I know, seems like an appropriate form of work stoppage.

In other strike related news, it’s estimated, and I have no idea how this number is drummed up, that the strike is costing the city $21.3 million a day. So, for those who think the writers are a mere commodity that should be thankful for the scraps they get: please gracefully remove your head from your ass while you still can. They’re the backbone and the brain of Hollywood, not some disposable nuisance that everyone just has to “deal with”.

Sorry for the late, underwhelming, non-insightful post, but its the best we can come across in these turbulent times. Back with more as soon as we find the time. More on the strike can be found here.

Studios and the writer’s union have agreed to talk. Ummm, does that mean that beforehand they weren’t on speaking terms? Come on, that seems a bit harsh, union. While you were together the studios paid for all your meals and whatnot. There were some good times, it wasn’t all bad.

The union, though, is hammering home the point that it is no cheap date. They’re still going to picket, even during negotiations. And while we staunchly support the union in their endeavors here, a little less militancy might be necessary in order to come to an agreement. But, still, I can understand them wanting to demonstrate their inflexibility, and if it’s necessary to get what they want/need, then so be it.

Still, there are some extenuating circumstances here that are rarely brought into question. For example, how do the studios come together on this? Since they have a tendency to out-maneuver, steal, and back stab one another, how do they come to an agreement to come to an agreement with the union? Is that possibly the crux of the problem? That the de-facto “studio union” doesn’t know what they want or what they are willing to offer? If not, it certainly seems like it could be an issue.

$500 million is how much the studios lost during the last strike. It was in 1988, lasted 22 weeks and commenced during the summer. This current strike is in the middle of TV season and could presumably effect the summer blockbusters, combine that and adjust for inflation, Hollywood is looking at a potential a billion dollar loss and an infinite amount of jobs lost. This thing desperately needs to be resolved.