By FRAZIER MOORE, AP Television Writer
25 minutes ago
NEW YORK - The writers strike and all those extra reruns have freed up time for me to do things other than watch TV.
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Like think about TV.
For instance, as a memory exercise, I've spent time mentally sorting out the rival "Sex and the City" offshoots premiering in the next few weeks: "Cashmere Mafia" starring Lucy Liu on ABC, and "Lipstick Jungle" starring Brooke Shields on NBC. Lipstick. Cashmere. Jungle. Mafia. Maybe actually seeing both shows will help me keep everything straight. Maybe not.
But more than thinking ahead, I've been looking back at this fall season, putting some thought to compiling a list of all the new shows I'm crazy about.
I couldn't think of any.
So I narrowed it down to a new show that has gotten viewers talking; a here's-the-show-all-the-networks-will-be... kind of hit.
I drew another blank.
Has there ever been a season with less impact? There weren't even any truly horrible new shows. Not even CBS' "Viva Laughlin," the musical-and-mystery melange that wasn't so bad, just fatally offbeat. It was canceled after two airings.
"Viva" holds the distinction of being not just the first, but so far the only new scripted series to officially get the ax. By now in any typical season, there would be some serious attrition going on.
But there's nothing typical about this season, which started slow and then, with the arrival of the November sweep 鈥?the networks' first big faceoff of the season 鈥?was upstaged by the writers strike. Late-night talk shows immediately began airing repeats, and viewers were counting off the few remaining new episodes of prime-time series just when they should have been kicking into high gear.
Now, in its sixth week, the strike seems more entrenched than ever. Meanwhile, networks have announced their retooled midseason schedules, a slurry of scripted series that were already in the can, plus lots of unscripted reality fare.
But I'm not ready to focus on the future (even "Cashmere" this and "Lipstick" that, which for all I know could both be wonderful shows). I'm still mourning the premature passing of a season that never was.
The Fall 2007 season will be remembered not for NBC's expected hit "Bionic Woman," which turned out to be a shrinking violet in the ratings. Despite those eye-popping visuals on ABC's "Pushing Daisies," the season's emblematic images have come from somewhere else: the picket lines, where writers, for once, are getting the spotlight.
Further shaking things up, the strike has triggered speculation about its long-term effect on the TV medium. Increased repeats, fewer episodes shot for certain series, network lineups in apparent chaos 鈥?will all these potential annoyances this season chase viewers from network TV, or from TV altogether, never to return? Maybe so, some experts predict. Of course not, say others.
Have the networks already lost their mojo? Why were their new fall shows greeted with such viewer indifference? Why are their most-watched shows mostly older series like "CSI" (in its 8th season), "NCIS" (5th), "Two and a Half Men" (5th), "House" (4th) and "Desperate Housewives" (4th)?
Nearly 21 million viewers watched the recent "Desperate Housewives" when a tornado slammed Wisteria Lane. It captured the spirit of the real upheaval in the TV industry.
Writers are demanding a fair share of revenue from scripts they write that end up on the Web and other new media. Studios and networks are countering these new digital platforms aren't demonstrated earners yet, so there's no money to share.
Forgive me, a mere viewer, if I'm getting impatient. But with time on my hands, I find myself playing variations of "what if."
I wonder what zany situations and sly banter would have been written for "30 Rock" if not for this strike dragging on? What lacerating satire would otherwise have nourished the presidential race, courtesy of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report"? What breathless, world-saving mission would have been afflicting Jack Bauer on "24" (postponed all the way until next season)?
If the strike continues for another couple of months, I wonder what pilot scripts won't get written, or produced, or picked up for series next fall?
I'll bet the writers are thinking about all that, too. They're thinking about the programs scheduled instead in the weeks to come 鈥?"reality" shows purportedly without writers (at least, not from the rolls of the Writers Guild of America). And they're thinking, what if those series win the viewers' loyalty, at the expense of scripted shows that will never see the light of day?
I don't mean to be an alarmist. But I'm not so happy about the season just ahead. In fact, I'm even less happy with the fall season that was over before it started.
__ I think I'm too impatient to read all of that. Ha |
