Picking At Scabs, Resolving to Action
Wednesday, January 2, 2008 at 6:52AM
One has to wonder what slithering cretins out there have veins coursing with so much self-importance that they feel it's perfectly fine to cross picket lines and appear as guests on late night shows returning to the air without a WGA contract. This just in: . Shame on your false altruism, Mike Huckabee--you have the ethical standards of a slug. The message these upcoming guests and self-promoters are saying is that they don't care about the welfare of others, the welfare of an industry, or the welfare of the universe.
Tonight will be the most fascinating evening of late night programming since their return to air after 9/11. Instead of us tuning in to gain some sense of normalcy, tonight we are watching purely for moments of disingenuousness, any acts of public defiance, and the all-important train wreck appeal.
If the writers strike has taught us anything, it's that network television exists mainly to sell Proctor and Gamble products. Friday Night Lights and 30 Rock can and will be replaced permanently by Dancing With the Gays or whatever show moves just as much Charmin unless immediate action is taken by consumers and people outside of the industry. The WGA should zero in on educating the advertisers and they should incite the entertainment consumer to action in ways that immediately affect the bank accounts of the AMPTP. We're tired of the whole industry being held hostage by dudes with purses.
Here are the simplest actions you can make that will have a
bold
effect on the financials of the AMPTP, and in turn, help bring about an end to the strike:
--Do not watch shows that replace affected programming
--Stop blogging about shows that replace affected programming
--Suspend your Netflix account
--Stop going out to the movies
--Spend your Christmas giftcards on things that aren't DVDs
--Don't buy goods from companies who purchase advertising time on talk shows returning w/o a contract (Kimmel, Leno, Conan, Stewart, Colbert, Daly, Degeneres)
--Contact the advertisers of these shows and briefly tell them how you feel
--Don't be an audience member at talk shows returning w/o a contract
--Educate tourists in the audience and standby lines of these shows
--Don't be a guest on talk shows w/o a contract
--Contact guests and tell them how you feel
Action which creates financial pressure is really the only thing that matters. Right now, the pressure is on the WGA because despite "winning the PR cyber war," the balance sheet is still looking all right for the AMPTP.
Call the advertisers? I'd have to watch all those TV shows I like and don't like - just to write a list of whom to call!Stop eating foods that advertise on scab programs? Stop using soap products? Stop baby diapering? Stop wiping my butt?Kill our Netflix accounts?Don't watch DVDs at all!?
Also, are you calling Conan O'Brien a douche for wanting his staff of 80+ to get paid? Even though he's got the support of his writers? Didn't Conan pay the staff out of his own pockets for over a month? Didn't the staff get laid off by NBC a couple weeks ago?
Every second of last nights show seemed to be helping out the writers guild: Reminding people of how important writers are with awkward, self-depreciative jokes. Not to mention his opening statement showing his strong support of the writers.
I don't want to sound rude here...but you're just a blogger, right? Are you a professional TV/Movie writer? Are you living up to your own ideals? Do you really expect the mistreatment of the writers to cause America to cut entertainment, food, and toilet paper out of their lives? I think that there are a lot of people out there being mistreated in their jobs - but I like showering a little too much to defend the innocent so caustically.
If you are a writer and your list of actions seems like the proper course - I empathize. I like the writers and I want their demands to be met. I think its important to support them. But I think your action list is a little ... crazy.