DG's Quick Hits, November 2, 2007

HOLLYWOOD WRITERS GO ON STRIKE

It’s official: the Writer’s Guild of America is going on strike with the main issue being- you guessed it- money. Specifically in this case what is at stake is a cut of the royalties in DVD and Internet distribution. The Guild is demanding a raise to 40% arguing this would make up for the low royalties they received in the VHS era, while the producers do not want to raise the royalty- currently 1.2%- arguing that the market and consumer preferences are not yet known and thus no one knows how much money could be truly generated. What the strike means is the scriptwriters for Hollywood programming- including TV shows and movies- will be off the job starting today, meaning no new scripts can be generated or current scripts edited until the strike is over. Movie production is expected to be the least affected, as scripts have been stockpiled well into next year (although any script issues cannot be reworked until the strike is over), with roughly the same situation affecting prime-time serials (who have scripts into February). Late-night TV is expected to take the most immediate hit, as they rely on current events for material and thus aren’t written in advance; and pilot production would also take a hit as this is the time most pilots are refined and worked into production for the following season. If the strike continues into next year, it’s expected the directors and the actors may soon join the writers, because they have the same grievances as the writers.

The longer ramifications of the strike are open for debate. It is not expected to affect airtime schedules, but the last time the writers went on strike- in 1988- reruns were the order of the day and several shows (including “Moonlighting”) were unable to recover from the lost writing and production time. Now, since 1988 studios now have more options- such as reality TV- but the strike may still have a negative effect on the serials, particularly newer shows which could use refinement in order to produce the quality programming needed to firmly establish their shows as hits. If the directors and writers join their scriptwriter colleagues, it could affect production- even of movies- deep into 2008, creating a very unpredictable entertainment landscape for the end of the decade. At the extreme end is the death of Hollywood- with TV viewership already at an all-time low, the prospect of lower quality shows and movies (not to mention the end of production regarding that programming) could erode away audiences for good; and this isn’t necessarily such a bad predicament- independent filmmakers, looking for a way to barge into the padlocked doors of mass movie presentation, will finally have an inroad as audiences look for something to watch. Thus, the potential for a radical change in entertainment might be in order and that, frankly, is a very entertaining prospect.

THE COLBEAGLE WON’T SOAR AS A DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN

One of the oddest stories in the U.S. Presidential Election race is the fact that Steven Colbert- who poses as a conservative talk-show host (also named “Steven Colbert”, but it is a character and not representative of Colbert himself) on the “Steven Colbert Report” on “Comedy Central”- attempted to get his name on the Presidential primary ballots in his home state of South Carolina as both a Republican and a Democrat (“so (he) could lose twice”). He declined to run on the Republican ballot because their fee- $35,000- was too high (and which would have subjected him to higher scrutiny under Federal Election Law), leaving his only choice with the Democrats, who only demanded $2,500. On November 1, the South Carolina Democrats voted 13-3 not to include Colbert on their ballot, meaning the “Colbeagle” would have to run as an independent.

The South Carolina Democrats- reasonably- thought that Colbert was using the campaign as part of a greater sketch for his show, and I never thought Colbert- whose show is very well crafted but very much a satire- was going to enter politics seriously like Arnold Schwarzenegger did in California. Having said that, it’s still entertaining to see Colbert’s attempt, and the fact that he would garner 13% of American voters says something about the state of American politics- if a comedian who doesn’t appear to have a serious campaign can have a significant portion of the vote then the serious candidates still haven’t struck as much a chord with voters as they thought they did; and it’s easy to see why- after eight years of George W. Bush and five years of a costly, wrong-headed war in Iraq, Americans are not going to wait for the politicians to get their act together. Otherwise, Steven Colbert won’t be running “The Word” out of his Comedy Central studios- he’ll be running it from The White House.

THIS AND THAT

*Montreal Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau objected to Sergei Gonchar’s inclusion on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ shooter list in the deciding shootout of the Canadiens’ 4-3 victory. Gonchar received a minor penalty for boarding (which should have been higher but that’s beside the point), and despite the fact that Gonchar missed, Carbonneau believed Gonchar shouldn’t participate since he had a penalty. Hockey people are supportive of the idea as players in the penalty box at the start of overtime stay in the box until their penalty is finished, but what they are missing is the fact shootouts are not timed. In overtime, there is a natural point when a player can return (the corresponding second in the period when the penalty expires) but shootouts don’t have a clock and thus provide no natural point of return. If they wish to pursue this angle, at least prevent a penalized player from participating as one of the first three shooters, but do not bar them completely (unless they’ve been tossed from the game itself)- if a player can return for overtime, he can return for a shootout.

*Another hair-brained hockey idea: Brian Burke, GM of the Anaheim Ducks, is positing the idea of allowing players to “bear hug” opponents when they’re along the boards because the “new rules” provide no leeway for defenders to adequately handle their opponent. TSN’s Keith Jones supported the idea because “coaches are teaching their players to cross-check opponents to push them off the puck” but even this is nonsensical. “Bear hugging” would legalize holding since referees would have to make a distinction between defenders just using the opponent for balance and defenders actually obstructing player movement (and it’s this judgement call that led to the dreaded “clutching and grabbing”), and cross-checking is itself illegal. Besides, defenders can still push players off the puck with their shoulders, lift the opponent’s stick or put the blade of their sticks on the puck to wrestle it away from the attacker. Such plays should be routine for hockey defenders, but because of the laxity of the rules until now, everyone seems to think the rules are restrictive when they just require a different- but no less complicated- set of options. Hockey has gone so far since they went to the standard and can only get better; and hockey people should be supportive of the directives and let the game develop instead of insisting things go back to the way they were just because the changes aren’t developing as quickly as they’d like them to.

*The Kobe Bryant trade rumours refuse to die, even though a proposed trade with the Chicago Bulls has apparently gone by the wayside due to the fact that the Bulls were not willing to part with Luol Deng or Ben Gordon. Although Bryant has retracted his demands, his coach, Phil Jackson, insists Bryant lacks the mentality to compete and the Los Angeles Lakers need to start over. Of course, given the talent of Bryant, finding a fit may be next to impossible, especially considering that the Lakers were jobbed in the Shaquille O’Neal trade. Still, I don’t think Bryant will last the season as a Laker- things are boiling over too much for that to be a certainty.

*Most pointless story of the football season: Georgia Bulldogs Mark Richt allowed his entire team to come onto the field and celebrate the Bulldogs’ first touchdown in their game against the Florida Gators. Some viewed the move as un-sportsmanlike by “rubbing it in”, but the Gators and Bulldogs are rivals- as long as players aren’t involved in fisticuffs, it’s all fair game. Besides, teams should be allowed to have a bit more fun- the way football people moan about celebrations, it seems like no one can be happy at all, and, last I checked, this was still a game and a game should be fun.

*I also will not discuss the Patriots and the Colts…oh, never mind. I just won’t get into it, because the sports reporters will do that for you…it would be funny if the Houston Texans-Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks-Cleveland Browns games (which are on at the same time) turns out to be the better games but I digress.

-DG