Tuesday, February 05, 2008

strike ending soon?

The news has been trickling in since Sunday night that the writers strike is nearing a speedy end. A tentative agreement has apparently been reached, albeit without the aid of "formal" negotiations, that both the WGA and the AMPTP are reportedly able to live with. The main sticking point of that agreement, is the brokered revenues for internet content. Supposedly the deal is similar, if not better, to the one that the AMPTP made with the DGA a short while ago.

While of course nothing is set in stone by this purported tentative agreement, people genuinely seem positive that this strike may be finally coming to a close. Reports that it could end as early as next week have been giving writers some well deserved hope. Of course nothing is formal yet, and I've little doubt that either side could screw things up, but the formal proposal is scheduled to be presented at the negotiating table this Saturday, Feb 9th, and we'll see what happens from there. To keep totally on top of this though, I like surfing the TV Guide's Strike Watch blog for the latest.

As Michale Ausiello reports in his excellent blog, the networks are expected to start devising and revealing plans for the future of their seasons as soon as an outcome has been determined. And he already has the unofficial scoop on the proposed fate of a number of ABC shows. Established big hits Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty and Brother's & Sisters are expected to resume filming as early as the end of March with the intention to put 4 or 5 more episodes on our screens before the season is out, while newer shows that are returning are expected to hold off until a summer shooting scheduled and a fall relaunch. And this is expected to be the pattern the other big networks take. As for Lost, Heroes and 24, for now there's no word. I know it's seems like there is a lot of new stuff on tv these days, but just check out this updated list of the shows left to us; 'seriously dwindling' is a phrase that I think describes the situation well.

But regardless of when we get our shows back I definitely think this has gone on for long enough. The writers deserve compensation for their work, and I'm glad to see that the AMPTP sounds like its finally starting to come to some reasonable terms. Lets keep our fingers crossed that this is all over by next week, and definitely in time for the Oscars.
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