Blog : TV Worth Watching

January 10, 2008 - Strike News: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

As the writers' strike continues, evidence of its reach and impact is more evident every day. There's always news... some of it even good.

GOOD NEWS? The Screen Actors Guild, honoring the picket line of the Writers Guild of America, has caused the cancellation of The Golden Globes as we know them. No big tables with liquored-up celebrities mingling, movie and TV stars alike, shattering the Hollywood caste system for a night of back-slapping and alcohol.

NBC, instead, will televise a live press conference Sunday night at 9 ET, announcing the winners. This presumes, and pretends, that the results of the Globes matter to anyone, or are to be taken at all seriously. Hah. The only reason to watch was to see stars partying live, so losing the Globes, for the sake of the strike, is good news. Now the Oscars, that's another matter... So stay tuned. If you can.

BAD NEWS? Tonight NBC presents fresh episodes of 30 Rock and My Name Is Earl. What's bad about that? They're the last new episodes we're going to see until the strike is over - which means, most likely, they're the last fresh laughs we'll get from these shows for nine months And that's if we're lucky.

UGLY NEWS? But never fear, folks, because just as wonderful scripted shows such as 30 Rock are packing it in for the duration of the strike, new unscripted shows are premiering to give us a taste of what to expect for the next three, six, nine months or more.

Yes, tonight at 10 ET on VH1, you can tune (you shouldn't, but you can) to a new series called Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. There's so much wrong with just the very existence of this series, especially after a weekend in which the orbits of Britney Spears and Dr. Phil collide, that to say more would be just a soul-sucking waste of energy.

But I will say this, to Brigitte Nielsen, Jeff Conaway and the other quasi-celebrity participants trying to kick drugs, alcohol or other bad behaviors on national TV. The first thing to kick? Your addiction to TV. Heal thyselves, by all means - but do so in private, for your sake as well as ours.

1 Comments

Tom said:

If this sounds one of those bizarre conspiracy theories, just refer me to snopes for debunking.
But I can't help but think the longer the strike goes on, the higher the hopes of networks that TV audiences will become even-more weaned from scripted entertainment. That would make it easier than ever to keep serving up the cheaper, unscripted series they better know will raise their revenues.
Why pay 20 writers when you can snag a Trump or a Mandel or or a Saget or a Carey and all your personnel costs are covered?
You know better than I, but I'm guessing there aren't many Grant Tinker types at decision-making levels at the networks. To the mercenaries -- I'm still guessing -- getting a bonus for coming in under budget is a lot more important than landing an Emmy for a program judged to have artistic merit.
Or could I simply be an incurable cynic?

Comment posted on January 10, 2008 12:18 PM

Behind David in the picture is the first TV owned by his father, Virgil Bianculli, a 1946 Raytheon. (The TV, not his father. His father was a 1923 Italian.)

David Bianculli has been a TV critic since 1975, including a 14-year stint at the New York Daily News, and sees no reason to stop now. Currently, he's TV critic for NPR's Fresh Air, occasional substitute host for that show's Terry Gross, and teaches TV and film history at New Jersey's Rowan University. His most recent book is 2009's Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,' and he's at work on another.

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