After the announcement the Golden Globes would be revealed at an hour-long press conference Monday January 13, instead of a televised ceremony, I started thinking about how this WGA strike has affected me the last two months. Other than my disappointment that Heroes is no longer aired and the spin-off, Heroes: Origins, will not air until later this year (if at all), I can’t think of much to complain about. I either watch reality shows or movies on the premium channels, and they don’t seem to be affected by the strike.
So, does anyone care about the WGA strike besides Hollywood? Actors make MILLIONS of dollars for crappy movies that probably should never have been made. Writers probably don’t make millions, but I bet they make more per hour than I do. But, we lose out on watching our favorite shows because the WGA thinks they should get a cut of the profits for any shows viewed or sold over the internet.
Knowing I’ll be perceived as a “diva” (that’s being polite) for saying this, but the finished product belongs to the company that purchased it from the writer. Why should the writer get paid additional money because the show is aired or sold on the Internet? Do they already get paid extra for DVD sales of television shows? Do they get paid extra for syndication and reruns?
How many more minutes of commercials are going to interrupt our favorite shows now because the studios have to pay the writers more money?
My favorite show is Heroes. I love it. So does my son. But he doesn’t always find time to watch it because of school and sports. I tried to record it for him, but forgot to save with the protect feature on the DVR and lost all the shows. I found all the current season shows on the NBC website and (THANK YOU NBC) he was able to catch up.
I also download TV shows for him from ITunes. It gives him something to do while riding in the car every weekend for kid-exchange (two-hour commute every Friday night and Sunday night). Most TV shows cost $1.99 per episode through ITunes and I think that’s reasonable. How much is it going to cost once the WGA gets a cut for each episode sold?
With nothing new to watch on TV, I’ll be finding other things to do…like watch the new season of American Idol starting January 15!
