Back again: sorry for the interruption in service

[dianeduane]

(sigh) No sooner did we get back from the Surrey International Writers' Conference -- which was an absolute blast, definitely something we will happily attend again -- that I went down with a really nasty case of the flu (I think I picked it up while passing through Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam: had it been something I'd picked up sooner, I think it would have manifested earlier). Now I'm slowly starting to get caught up with things that should have been going on days ago.

In particular, the new chapter of A Wizard of Mars has gone up for premium content subscribers at the Young Wizards discussion forums. I'm really sorry for the delay: it was due to a hardware issue that I couldn't resolve before we left (dead laptop, material not duplicated / backed up elsewhere, argh!!) -- and then after we got back I went straight to bed. If you've been a subscriber and for some reason find you can't get at the new content, let me know and I'll see to it that your subscription is extended. Also, yes, I know the graphic on the AWoM page says "Chapter 3." Webmaster Lee will be fixing that shortly.

...But today there's other business. Today the Writers' Guild, as some of you will doubtless have noticed, is on strike.

There is going to be a lot of cluelessness and outright crap in the broadcast media about this over the coming days (and, I much fear, weeks...). To those of you who're unfamiliar with the issues, let me point out one crucial fact right away: due to the increasingly vertically-integrated nature of the entertainment industry, the mass media are largely controlled by the same people (the AMPTP) that the Guild is striking against... so don't expect to hear much from the big media outlets except how greedy and ungrateful and unreasonable we rich, spoiled TV writers are.

(eyeroll) A million things I could say about this... except others are saying it better and far more eloquently: have been saying it for days and weeks, and in some cases months. If you want to find out about why writers are striking, read these sources for clear and sometimes (understandably) angry explanations.

The Artful Writer: the website run by Ted Elliott (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Craig Mazin (Scary Movie 3)

News from me: Mark Evanier's website

United Hollywood: a WGA strike captains' blog

And of course, the Writers Guild of America website

Also, for general news and background, Nikki Finke's weblog at L.A. Weekly is a good bet: Deadline Hollywood Daily

(BTW, for those of you who support the writers in this strike and have a picket nearby, please note: the Guild says you are more than welcome to join writer members on the picket lines.)

...Meanwhile, I'm going to go back to bed and Drink Some More Fluids. But I leave you with Jon Stewart's take on the strike. Dry stuff. Go Jon! (snrk)

(See also: Jon Stewart to pay his writing staff's salaries for the next two weeks)

(afterthought. Today's silliest headline: Writers' strike forces students to study ... They're kidding, right? Not even Superman could make that happen.)

Comments

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

I hope you feel better very soon!

[pendlemac.livejournal.com]

Simple question.

Who's going to notice?

[dduane.livejournal.com]

I'll assume that wasn't a comment on the quality of TV in general. (Whole 'nother can of worms.)

...Immediately? US-based late night talk shows / sketch shows will go dark. (Letterman, Leno, Conan, Colbert, Stewart will all be going into reruns, as far as I know.)

Next week or thereabouts? Soaps will go dark.

Episodic TV will be largely unaffected until approximately New Year's because (in anticipation of the strike) every show in LA has been on a schedule designed to stockpile as many completed scripts as possible. (See here (http://www.sltrib.com/entertainment/ci_7372315) for some more specific info on various series.)

Film production: Studios too have been stockpiling scripts since early in '07. The strike's effects will take longest to show here. Myself, I'm praying fervently that the strike never lasts long enough to start showing at this end of things....

Unaffected: "reality" programming (oh, whoopee, I want to spend lots more time watching that. Most non-feature animation (much of this is handled by another union). Talk shows like "Oprah", etc. Various others: see here (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/news/article/50593/writers-strike-get-ready-for-repeats-repeats-and-more-repeats/) for a broader overview.

[lunalovegoddess.livejournal.com]

Don't get me started on reality TV... Plenty of interesting shows (on Fox, *cough cough*)were canceled after a few episodes over the past few years. Case in point, when my husband was working for a small radio station, he was talking to Tim Minear and Bryan Fuller, whom gave him a few scripts and episodes from Firefly and Wonderfalls. This was due to the fact that we were trying to get the shows picked back up by the network. So, technically, we got to see most of Wonderfalls before the DVD set was released to the public.

Anyway, that probably seems like non sequitor. (Don't worry; you'll get used to that with me.)
My point is that witty, inventive shows often fall by the wayside in favor of reality television shows, which are so not reality. (How realistic is it to be competing for a celebrity's romantic attention, or being forced to live in a loft with seven other people? Okay; you've got me. That would be called college.)

I worry about the girls on those shows, because all of their bitchy flaws are brought out onto camera for the world to see. The industry plays up the drama and competition does not bring out their best sides. My friend felt that the atrocious behavior of the girls on "Flavor of Love" undid all of the respect that black women have had to earn, and further perpetuate the stereotype of the Angry Black Woman.

What bothers me is that there seems to be very little music for the music video stations these days. Reality tv has taken over the networks, and original programming and exceptional writers are the ones that suffer.

Although I am currently following VH-1's "A Shot of Love with Tila Tequila", it's mostly because the contest is actually between men and women since Tila is bisexual. I wanted to see how this topic was addressed and what the contestants reactions would be, since I have had similar experiences before coming out as a bisexual woman. A lot of people tend to think that bisexuals are sex addicts or cannot be monogamous partners. Even among the LGBT community, I have found the attitude prevalent that bisexuals are either undecided or unable to commit to one gender. The straight gals I knew believed it was experimentation or a phase, but eventually I would settle down and have kids, and the lesbians wondered when I'd come over to their side.
(I remember coming out to my mother (again), and she said, "But, you're a mom!" and I flippantly said, "Even lesbians can get knocked up; it's not rocket science, you know.")

In closing, I am curious enough to see how the WGA strike turns out, and hope for a mutually beneficial resolution to the problem.

/end rant/

[kengr]

Don't get me started on music videos. I used to keep VH-1 on as "background" late at night. Found some good music I wouldn't have known about otherwise.

Now? It's been years since anything but the premium or now the digital cable only channels have had music videos as anything but filler. And not much of that.

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

I remember when MTV stopped (or practically so), but "it's okay, we still have VH-1".

[kayshapero]

Unless the writers for "reality" programming (and c'mon, there have to be some) are non-WGA, I should think they would also be having trouble before long.

OTOH if they tried to actually run completely unscripted... y'know, they might actually do something interesting quite by accident. Though I'm not going to bet on it.

I'm with the WGA on this one - enough is too much. Must remember to drive up Washington Blvd. tomorrow and honk for the picketers.

[meimi.livejournal.com]

In regards to your afterthought: They're really kidding, right? The day television serves as the main form of procrastination for college students is the day that World of Warcraft closes up shop and takes all the other online games down with it.

[spatch]

What are you talking about? That article's prognostication is spot-on. It's all going to happen a few months from now.

(time machine sparkly effects go here)

MEANWHILE, ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES ACROSS THE NATION, CONVERSATIONS JUST LIKE THIS ARE HAPPENING...

"Hey, we on for House tonight?"
"It's not on. The writers are on strike."
"Oh. That sucks."
"Yeah."
"So what are we gonna do instead?"
"I dunno. I guess we could study."
"Study? As in, go-to-library study?"
"Yeah. Or we could just sit in the lounge and work on problem sets."
"Oh, suuuure. And we could also go to class tomorrow and hand them in, right? You're crazy."
"Dude. You got any other bright ideas?"
"...no. Looks like we'll have to do some work tonight."
"We've got no other choice."
"Guess not."
"Might as well get to it."
"Yeah. I think I got a thesis to start or something, anyway."

[allasomething.livejournal.com]

a few months?! So gypped... my exams are this week :p

[hrrunka]

Ugh. I hope you're feeling a whole lot better soon.

[tsukara.livejournal.com]

Well, now there's an amusing headline. And here I thought it would be finals and the looming idea of failing classes that would pressure me to study, but no! It will be the strike of the television writers. ...Right.

I only found out about this recently (too much studying), but am one hundred percent behind the writers on this one.

On a side-note: Not all reality television is necessarily terrible. The Amazing Race, for instance. That one warms the cockles of my fiction-television-loving heart.

And get better soon please! Being sick is no fun. :C

[wetdryvac.livejournal.com]

*supportive thoughts*

Really disorganized supportive thoughts, as it turns out, but supportive all the same.

[nelka35.livejournal.com]

gett better soon!

eh-eh.. what is happening with "The Big Meow"? also, I moved, and the address when I paid for it is an old one - how do I update?

[nihilistic2.livejournal.com]

Flu usually takes 36-48 hours to incubate, if that helps. Hope you feel better!

Superman contributes to my *lack* of studying. Smallville box-sets ahoy!

[tachs.livejournal.com]

Is there any word on the Big Meow?
Or is that on hold until Wizard of Mars is finished?

[starkruzr.livejournal.com]

I thought AWOM WAS finished and the delay was due to some kind of publishing snafu.

;_; I'M SO CONFUSED

[dduane.livejournal.com]

AWoM is with the publisher, but we've been releasing a few of the initial chapters on a subscription basis to help the discussion forums at YW.net pay for themselves.

Big Meow has been on hiatus for the last few months while Peter and I have been coping with the loss of his mum. However, I'm now back in the saddle and expect to be back to work on TBM shortly.

BTW, for those concerned: there will be no further movement on the SYWTBAW movie project until the WGA strike is resolved.

[starkruzr.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you folks are doing better :)

... hmmm. That last bit makes it sound like there HAS been some good movement on the SYWTBAW movie project.

In short, there is nothing but good news in this post.

[cgbookcat1.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is wonderful news! My roommate and I have been eagerly awaiting TBM chapter 7.

I hope the strike goes well for the WGA.

[dduane.livejournal.com]

Double posting, naughty me (but I'm tired and ready to collapse for tonight...forgive me the cut 'n' paste...)

AWoM is with the publisher, but we've been releasing a few of the initial chapters on a subscription basis to help the discussion forums at YW.net pay for themselves.

Big Meow has been on hiatus for the last few months while Peter and I have been coping with the loss of his mum. However, I'm now back in the saddle and expect to be back to work on TBM shortly.

BTW, for those concerned: there will be no further movement on the SYWTBAW movie project until the WGA strike is resolved.

[zenfrodo.livejournal.com]

ooookay, since I don't watch TV (no cable, and the 3 local stations don't come in where I'm at -- and nothing on TV is worth me paying $40 a month)...

...that better mean we'll see even MORE Young Wizards novels to make up your lack of TV income, right? Right?? And maybe a return of the "Door" series? Right???

[reticent-lass.livejournal.com]

On the 'Jon Stewart to pay writing staff' link, there appears to be some retconning going on. I now have no idea as to what he's actually doing with regards to the writers of the Daily Show.

[darkcloudnymph.livejournal.com]

'Reality TV' is probably the main reason I almost never watch broadcast TV ::hides behind a chair:: If we are fortunate reason will triumph for a change, ho hum.

I am glad to hear you are feeling better! Several different bugs seem to be going around here(SoCal) and I am fighting what seems to be a losing battle not to succumb to being sick as well. What kinds of fluids do you prefer? I have been drinking large amounts of mint, jasmine, green, and gen-mai cha.

I think I speak for most if not all of your fans when I say, THANK YOU FOR THE NEW AWOM CHAPTER!!!

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

Hi Diane,

I didn't know you had an LJ, but my friend cleolinda linked it today, and so I thought I'd come over and say hello! I'm the Vice Chair and webmaster for the North American Discworld Convention. (Hello.) :)

Anyway, I hope you don't mind if I add you to my friends, and I do hope you get over your sickness soon!

Cheers!
Emily

Unrelated:

[azurelunatic]

I found something fascinating in a bookstore this weekend. My thoughts, in approximate order:

1) It has MANGA now?!
2) Wait -- it's BACKWARDS!
3) Written by -- oh! OH! *grab*
4) Kirk fails at bishie.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

I hope you feel better, and if you need entertainment while you're in bed, cleolinda's been documenting the unfolding Potterdämmerung on fandom_wank. (I mention it just in case you missed it will ill. I know you're usually up-to-date on these matters.)

[hawkwolf.livejournal.com]

Random question, because I've been out of touch and you might know: Are there any rumours of the other guilds planning to strike in solidarity? I'm thinking specifically AFTRA and SAG. I know Equity and the Stage Hands Union did that durring the Musician's strike and shut down Broadway for something like a week.