As the last few hours of our scripted entertainment disappear like canned foods in a fallout shelter, any new entertainment on the horizon is good news (unless, of course, you're talking about ABC's Duel or the prospect of a Tonight Show that rises and falls on Jay Leno's wit alone). Today's offer of putrefied pond water to us thirsty masses is StrikeTV.com. Wired.com is reporting that after the holidays, the striking writers will use the site to post "videos and other media supporting the strike." It's not much and, when you get right down to it, it's less "entertainment" than "snarky rhetoric," but hey, it's something.
That said, I've sampled some of the videos supporting the strike and, uh, this is just a thought, but perhaps the writers might want to get a few of their actor friends to star in these videos for them. No offense, but if your goal with this website is to get as many people as possible to support your side of the issue, you're going to need a few people in the videos who rolled higher than a nine for their charisma score.
The problem with most of the videos is that even though I agree wholeheartedly with the writers' position, I can't help but find them a bit whiny. I mean, it's saying something if you're making television executives -- people who use endangered monkey's blood to grease the wheels on their gold-encrusted go-carts -- look comparatively classy through their silence. I'm not saying the writer's are wrong or that they shouldn't create this website, just that it might behoove them to think a bit about what image they're presenting to the world.
I'm still holding out for a Christmas miracle. Maybe Rupert Murdoch will hear the writer's singing despite the fact that they have no internet residuals and his Australian heart will grow three sizes! There's always hope...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-21-2007 @ 9:52AM
Paul said...
I've liked all the strike videos produced by good comedy writers -- the "Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" staff videos were quite funny, and the 2 videos created by the Lonely Island dudes and starring Fred Armisen as a studio head were as good as anything you'd see on "SNL" (though, that isn't necessarily saying much, depending on one's opinion of that show these days :P).
I'd like to see more from the actors too, though, especially since they are out there supporting the writers anyway. But at the same time, I don't think "middle America" will end up being on the writers' side if they see millionaire actors championing the cause as if they have a care in the world for the middle-class working folk (of which most of the writers belong).
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12-21-2007 @ 11:10AM
segsig said...
Seems very similar to this site:
http://speechlesswithoutwriters.com/
but this has the known actors as you suggested.
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12-21-2007 @ 11:51AM
kevjohn said...
These could be the first steps to cutting out the Networks altogehter and delivering the product directly to the consumer!
Now all they have to figure out is how to make enough money to pay the top stars a million dollars per episode and they'll be in business.
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12-21-2007 @ 2:45PM
Brent McKee said...
Uhh guys, I kind of like "Duel". I enjoyed the heck out of "Clash of the Choirs" too though it's only something that will really work around Christmas, when choral music is just about everywhere.
The truth is that any attempt to cut the studios out of the loop on creation of new material is just about doomed to failure simply because the studios control the means of distribution. It's all very well to speak about doing stuff for the Internet only but you run into questions about how to monetize content so that you can afford to create new content. As much as I support the writers (and the actors and the directors - well depending on what they do in their negotiations) I do realize that there is a symbiotic relationship between them and the studios and networks. The creative people can't get the money to bring their stories to the public on their own, and the studios and the networks are limited in their ability to create new material without the creative people to write and act in and direct movies and TV shows.
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12-22-2007 @ 1:28PM
Jaymez said...
The strike is still going on? Damn. I wonder how long until i notice? That's not even sarcasm. I didn't know the strike was still going on.
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