as the strike continues

So as the strike continues we are just starting to get a sense for what this means.

The late night talkers have returned, and with Dave and Craig the only teams with sanctioned writers. The quality may be higher, but more folks have initially at least, tuned in presumably to see if the others fall flat. And have they? I’d like to say I knew but to be honest I was tempted to tivo and check it out but have yet to do so. I’ll just say it’s in support of the strikers that I’m not watching Leno and not just because I’m too lazy to care. They are still getting some flack and some picketers for coming back, and some troubles landing the quality guests, but the show it does go on.

The latest big talk has shifted to what’s up with the awards seasons. The strikers are threatening to picket the shows, the actors are not under contract to attend so they’re not planning on it, and the little tidbit that surprised me the most was that they weren’t allowing clips to be shown. Who knew that was like a favor? So the People’s Choice and Golden Globes are first to deal. Right now the Globes are thinking about postponing theoretically to continue negotiating and/or potentially showing a more edited version, or gasp, not televising at all.

And our first real cable to network show is Dexter, getting a run from its first season starting Feb 17 on CBS. They will of course have to edit down to meet broadcast requirements. When they first did this for Sex and the City I thought it was ridiculous but found that I was less offended by the smut edits than I was by the scene edits to cut down the length for commercial timing. It really lost some of the delight and sense of the subplots, which you wouldn’t notice if you hadn’t seen the full version, but I think made a difference. So I am still happy to hear that some of this content will get a wider release but still tempted to just go ahead and Netflix it.

And I think Netflix will be getting even more support from the peeps. The longer the strike continues the less likely we’ll get anything other than reality shows this season, and the more likely that next fall season will be thrown off as well. Until then I’ll enjoy The New Adventures of Old Christine when it comes back and hope for another gem in the hodgepodge of midseason shows that will probably at least get a full run before anyone threatens cancellation.

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