NewscomaGot A Two-Pack Habit And A Motel Tan

Well, it appears for those of us who dig television that the writer’s strike most likely is going to happen. There could be a hail mary pass thrown, but it’s looking pretty doubtful.

Of course, I watch a lot of BBC, so I’m in better shape, I think, than some. Let’s take a look, shall we, of how television addicts will be dealing with their, umm, well, addiction. Pop Matters breaks it down better than anyone and says we may even be seeing the UK versions of shows like “The Office” on NBC if the strike goes on for any length of time.

Variety, by way of Alan Sepinwall, gives a pretty good breakdown of what will be impacted first. It looks like Stephen Colbert just might have plenty of time to make his way to the presidency.

While the networks have been repeating the mantra that “screens will not go black,” it won’t take long for TV viewers to see the impact of a Writers Guild of America strike.

The canaries in TV’s creative coal mine are latenight hosts such as David Letterman and Jay Leno, whose monologues and sketches are dependent on union writers. If history is any guide, both shows will almost instantly go dark, as would “Saturday Night Live.” Comedy Central’s latenight stalwarts “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” would also likely switch to repeats in the immediate aftermath of a strike.

“Boom — our show just shuts down,” said “SNL” vet Amy Poehler. “It’s just done. There is no backlog of scripts.” (For more on latenight and the strike, click here.)

The new shoes, like Pushing Daisies that I kinda dig, will be hit the hardest. And we are looking at lots and lots of reality television, as if there weren’t enough already. For Lost-o-philes, the producers say they will air what they’ve got.

The thing is, if you look at some of the grumbling behind the thing, is that no one wants a strike, but the question is does it financially benefit the producers to a degree. Here’s the gotcha phrase from the Variety article:

From a financial standpoint, network execs are at least in a better position than their studio counterparts. The nets may see their ratings and revenue go south as they replace scripted fare with repeats and reality shows, but their costs will decline, too. Sliding in a reality show that costs $900,000 per episode in place of a $3 million-per-seg drama will help soothe the sting of a strike.

So, for those of us who watch some reality television, we will see what happens. The Writer’s Guild contract ran out at midnight.

It might be a long winter, campers, if you dig TV.

More links, if you are so inclined:

• Remote Access and how the strike affects watchers.
• New York Times
• Great article about how digital distribution in clogging the talks up from Gizmodo
• CNN

There is a connection, if you guys don’t know, between Robert Goulet and Elvis Presley.

I always thought the stories about Elvis Presley using his guns to shoot holes in televisions were apocryphal. I guess I was wrong. An exhibit featuring “the only surviving television or appliance that Elvis shot out” went on display at Graceland this week. “As the story goes,” the AP’s Woody Baird writes, “entertainer Robert Goulet was performing on TV when Presley blasted the 25-inch RCA that’s part of the exhibit called ‘Elvis After Dark.’”

As Elvis was apparently quite fond of shooting odd things, such as televisions, for reasons unknown to me, I thought it was only serve us all to note the Goulet/Tennessee connection.

R.I.P Robert G. I thought you were fun.