Getting writers what they deserve

Nikki Jagerman

The Writer’s Guild strike is just what television needed. The Geiko Insurance-inspired show “Cavemen,” along with many other shows that shouldn’t have made it past the pilot, will never grace the airwaves again. After years of backup, television is finally receiving a much-needed enema.

Sure, shows with addictive plot lines and interesting characters are in danger of extinction like the “Cavemen,” but good shows will prevail. The writers striking are justified in their uprising, and even though you won’t get the updates from John Stewart or Steven Colbert, have good faith that they will be back soon enough. After all, without writers there are no new programs and that forces networks to run movies or reruns that have viewers saying, “Time to turn off the TV.”

Should the writers’ strike not end soon,television lovers will not likely be flocking to the movies in refuge. What will be waiting for them is documentaries. People may have to actually find activities that do not require them to sit in silence unblinking for hours at a time.

Reality television won’t be taking the same blow as sitcoms and dramas. However, fans of reality and dating shows will still suffer. If the obviously scripted lines on shows like “Next” weren’t bad enough already, just imagine what those people would say without the help of a writer.

As for soap operas, who could tell if all the writers got fired and the actors just had to improvise? As long as the make-up and lighting crews are there, the show could definitely go on. That’s what those shows are based on anyways.

Writers deserve their cut of the revenue from the shows they’re writing. The move from the big and small screen to the computer and iPod screen has changed the industry drastically and thus far the writers have been left without compensation. They have every right to call a strike on the producers who are taking the profits they should be making. Without the writers there are no storylines or new ideas, not to mention unforgettable one-liners.

It’s not the writers that are greedy. Just as any artist, they want to be acknowledged for their hard work and creativity. It’s a fight for the 100,000 members of the Writer’s Guild of America and the future writers to come. New media will continue to evolve so now is the best time for writers to tackle this issue. A few shows may be lost in the mix, but it’s better than losing their brilliant writers.

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