Wrong and Write
As the Hollywood writers’ strike drags on into the New Year, it seems to be getting harder to choose a side and stick with it. I’ve been behind the writers all along, asserting that the immediate impact of a settlement is less important than setting the precedent for compensation when, a few years down the road, all television is delivered to your set from the Internet. But as my favorite scripted shows run out of banked episodes, ready to be replaced by reruns, untested new series and a handful of episodes of LOST, my resolve to support the union wanes, and I wish they’d figure out a short-term deal that would leave open the possibility of future negotiations. But as late-night talk shows return tonight, some without writers, I can’t help but support those who are bold enough to stay on the picket line.
Game On
As a rather passive gaming enthusiast, I don’t know all that much about the history of video games; I have just enough information to appreciate the fact that the 8-bit games that lived in cabinet-sized machines have evolved into photorealistic adventures that fit onto a compact disc. I’m the perfect audience, then, for the Discovery Channel’s Rise of the Video Game, a documentary series on the growth of the gaming market. From Pong to, I imagine, PS3, the series takes a comprehensive look on what makes gamers tick and how the market has responded over time. Tonight’s installation is neatly summarizing my formative years, including the introduction of the NES and Sega Genesis. For anyone who’s interested in gaming, or anyone wondering why people would be interested in gaming, it’s a worthy watch.
Must-See Old TV
With an end to the writers’ strike almost nowhere to be found – the sides meet up again on Monday to renegotiate but who knows how long until out favorite shows (The Office, The Daily Show) can return with new material even if a deal is reached - I’ve taken to catching up on a series that I missed the first time around: How I Met Your Mother, likely one of the funniest shows on…well, on CBS, but who’s counting?* The actors do a remarkable job of bringing to life some very funny characters, and as I watch each new-to-me episode, I regret not watching when they originally aired. Does anyone have reccomendations for me to fill the void if the strike should go on?
*This has to be a terrible run-on sentence. Kate?
56Kiefer
Welcome to the first real weekend of NaBloPoMo, after my enthusiasm for the project has started to wane. Today’s post is a quickie: a video of what Fox’s 24 would be like in 1994. Courtesy College Humor.
[video]http://www.collegehumor.com/moogaloop/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1788161&fullscreen=1[/video]
Picket Fences
While it’s hard to look at successful people in New York and Los Angeles refusing to do their jobs while I write online for free in the time I’m not working at a non-profit, there is a legitimate backbone to the ongoing Hollywood writer’s strike. Isn’t it the rich getting richer, you ask? In some cases, yes. Some members of the WGA are well off, but that doesn’t mean that some of the brightest minds in Hollywood shouldn’t be compensated for their work appearing in new media. It’s the perfect time for a strike, too, because TV is only just beginning to make its strongest legal steps into the Internet. And though we won’t feel the full force of the strike until January if it continues, action needs to be taken now, so history (the 1988 strike that cost the entertainment industry $500 million) won’t repeat itself, and so that an actor’s strike next year can be avoided.