As the writers' strike drags on (we're at day 89 or so, by last count) bored journalists have taken to writing endless pieces about how agents have nothing to do all day and how a strike causes economic hardship (no, really?). Now journalists are
reading the tea leaves about the future of television, which is either bleak, middling or pretty good, depending on who you talk to.
And what about the resigned middle view, that this strike is just a harbinger of more labor battles? "There is something deep and profound going on in the country as a whole. There's a major change in technology that's ongoing, and we're adapting to it in a business negotiation," says writer-director David Koepp (Spider-Man, Jurassic Park), who's editing his new film Ghost Town when he's not picketing. Summarizing the major debate between the studios and the writers, Koepp says, "There is a philosophical disagreement over the ownership of the Internet. No one fully understands what the impact of the technology will be. Rather than one big seismic negotiation, there is going to be a series of negotiations over the next 10 years as the technology shakes out. The rhetoric on both sides can get rather hysterical because people don't understand what the parameters" of the new business model are.
These are the times when the masses need their opiates. Oops. Only 1,000 hours of Law & Order reruns are available. What about 300-pound dancing-singing celebrities trying to kill each other on a desert island? At least politics has come to the audience's rescue, providing the best soap opera/reality show on the airwaves. Who knows, maybe the populace is turning out in droves because the election is becoming the best show in town, and interactive to boot.
Politics is the best reality show in town these days. But it has nothing to do with the issues, as far as we can tell. Who called out who on the campaign trail? Whose spouse is in trouble this week for inappropriate comments about the other candidates? Who's out of money? What religion are the candidates? Whose kids are cuter?
And don't even get us started on the endless analysis of what everyone is wearing (especially Hillary since she's the only woman). Although we did see that Michelle Obama has a new Condi-esque hairstyle today, sort of a sophisticated flip. Michelle is on CNN and wearing lovely new spring pastel shades of eyeshadow and lip gloss. The cute as a button Meghan McCain is now blogging from the campaign trail.
Hmmm....maybe those with the apocalyptic vision of the future of television are onto something....
