Yes, it is official that the Writers Guild of America has reached an agreement with Hollywood producers to go back to work, and while I join my fellow blogger Donna in celebrating that the writers’ received at least some of what they deserved. However, I feel compelled to share with all of you who are anxious to return to your television watching rituals, that doesn’t necessarily mean good news for the audience.
For starters, several shows will not be back until next year including new hits like “Pushing Daisies” (Sorry, Donna). Other shows that never made it to air this season will also not be back until fall–“24” being the best example . (Sorry, Doug). Other shows like “Lost ” will have severely shortened seasons and new episodes are still a few weeks away.
What’s more, because the Writers Guild of America did not fight for control of writing on reality shows, the networks are sill ordering more reality pilots than pilots for new drama or comedy shows.
All of this news pieced together creates quite a puzzle as to how much the media landscape has permanently changed from the fallout of the strike. And, perhaps TV viewers wind up the biggest losers of all–in Hollywood the religion of greed will trump our individual media rituals every time.