Ananas

As if it wasn't embarrassing enough to be a Leafs fan...

I actually enjoyed this week's episode. All bets are off, and finally things are happening. I hope they don't get rid of Susan, since she's pretty much the best character they've introduced since Mahone. What the show really needed was a change to shock it out of its own reticent comfort, and they did that. At least now I can look forward to where they go from here.

Tom Morello performing at Friday's WGA Rally outside FOX. Awesome.

The only show with any actual scripting that will still be in production is Ellen Degeneres, who "loves her writers", if not as much as that dog she cried over for 3 days.

Where is that bullshit coming from, Variety? It was the MOGULS who nixed Villaraigosa, and Schwarzenegger hasn't actually offered to do anything yet. But they're right about one thing: agents could solve this thing in days. For Chrissakes, these are people who get paid to close deals. Still doesn't help if the producers want force majeure on this season though. Which, judging by their conduct over the past week, seems to be increasingly likely.

Unlike Veronica Mars that got so bad I was looking forward to the end, after 7 years it is legitimately going to suck to see Scrubs go. I think the ending to this week's episode sort of underscored that. Is this going to be the last time we see Dan? Anyway this was easily the best of the three they've shown so far. I really hope this strike gets resolved, because it would SUCK to see Scrubs go out on 12 instead of 18 episodes.

Family Guy will be in repeats as of this Sunday, and The Office will be out of new episodes as of next Thursday.

http://allyourtv.com/writersstrike/2007/11...d-the-ny-times/ Awesome.

If the producers had showed up to bargain in good faith on Sunday, they'd probably have a deal by now. The shitty reality TV series will be of no fault of the writers. And this is basically the closest we'll be getting to new Office episodes once the scripts run out:

I'm much more concerned that someone did an entire interview with the star of the highest grossing series in the history of film and decided that this was the only relevant tidbit.

At this point of all the shows that could end up dead because of the strike, this is the one I'm the most concerned about. So good. I love the O.C. reference ("The O.C. season two, very underrated"), Adam Baldwin's riff on "Green Week" ("Wanna save the planet? Go take a shower hippy") and definitely as GoGo already mentioned, the awesome Bryce swerve. Expect to see many Summer references next week.

According to Nikki Finke (probably the sharpest of all the reporters covering the strike beat), the WGA were promised that if they dropped the DVD demands, the AMPTP would meet them half way on new media residuals. WGA kept their end, producers not so much. Now the producers are pissed at the writers for not pushing back the strike, the writers are pissed at the producers for flat out deceiving them, and both sides are preparing for a months long strike. Every new development plays into the very real possibility that the Company wants this strike. Fuck them.

Now I wish I'd watched the promo's last night.

She was going to come back. Her decision not to return was made because she was told they were going to kill her off. This only made it happen sooner. I dunno, I got to the end of the first hour (which was terrible, by the way) and thought "another hour of this shit?" The second hour started off great, and Bellick was the best part of the episode, but they go the "Lincoln gets another chance" route for the 20th time, extend the time spent inside the ridiculously disappointing SONA after teasing an end and end with a "swerve" that any assuming viewer would have considered to have about 50/50 odds. Don't get me wrong, I think the two-hours left them with more places to go than before, but the time spent getting there was so up and down it was hard not to get vertigo. At this point I think I'd just quit watching if I hadn't already invested 2 seasons into it. Oh and Ringo made a good point last night. Where the fuck did those scientists from the end of season 2 go? That end sequence alone made me think this year would be better. One would certainly hope that's a cliffhanger they're going to resolve this season, and hopefully they did so before the strike began.

Stewart is denying the story, BTW. Day 1 saw Journeyman and The Office shut down, Cane delayed for several hours and several series stars refuse to cross the pickets. America Ferrara (Ugly Betty), Billy Baldwin (Dirty Sexy Money) and Julia Louis Dreyfus (The Adventures of New Christine) all walked the picket lines, while Office stars Rainn Wilson and Steve Carell didn't show up to work. Most showrunners (including, with photographic proof, Tina Fey) didn't cross the picket line, meaning those shows will either have to continue to sail captainless or shut down. The Teamsters apparently turned out in droves too, and may be responsible for The Office shutting down for the duration of the strike.

It'll be interesting to see what happens if this strike lasts through February. Jon Stewart is currently signed to host the show. But to crack jokes and tape sketches, they have to be written first. Not to mention all the presenter banter and voice overs...

They don't, but even if they did, they themselves are Guild members. They can't write anything during the strike, so unless they want to wing it in front of a national audience they'll take the break.

Yes, in 2002 they jumped the gun and canceled Firefly. Then from 2003-2006 they gave they gave 3 seasons to "Arrested Development", a low rated but critically acclaimed comedy. In 2006 they gave a second season to "The Loop", another low-rated but well liked comedy. "House" originally was met with lackluster ratings, but FOX cultivated it into one of television's most watched programs. They brought back "Family Guy" in 2005 to improved promotion and eventually big numbers. And they stuck by "Bones" and its shown consistent ratings growth. Can we stop with all the "lol, fox bad" nonsense? Virtually everyone at the top of that network has left since "Firefly" was canceled. It's now run by the guy who stuck by "The Office", "My Name Is Earl", "Scrubs", "Friday Night Lights" and "30 Rock" at NBC when they were low rated but well liked. Now they've brought Joss Whedon on board and made an episode commitment to him blindly. This isn't the "Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire" network anymore.

You'd think that wrestling would come under guild jurisdiction, but then again you'd think writers of shows like The Simpsons or Family Guy would too, only their programs are animated so it's somehow not "writing". The residuals on new media is probably the biggest issue, but it's far from the only one. All of the AMPTP's proposals thus far include roll-backs on health care, dental and pensions. There are also jurisdictional issues; the guild wants to bring under their protection writers on animated programs as well as reality shows (yes, they have writers. Yes, it's ironic.). The real problem is that 21 years ago the writers took a bad deal on home video residuals because the market was "unproven", and they've been paying for it ever since. And until the producers show some movement on those core issues... well let's just say this is a guild with more resolve than ever before. Even worse I've heard several writers label this a "lockout disguised as a strike". There is a fairly common conspiracy theory regarding these negotiations suggesting that following the disappointing performances of many new as well as returning series, producers would like this strike as a way of getting out of their existing series commitments and letting them reset for next year. If that's the case, you can bet they're more than willing to ride this one out. The only real proof of this theory is the absolute unwillingness to negotiate on the part of the producers, but I think that speaks volumes about their lack of concern for lost revenue. In short, unless there are serious breakthroughs at the Sunday meeting with a federal mediator, we're probably in for the long haul. And I personally hope the writers take them for every cent they can bleed out of it. One can only assume that an industry with more invested in writers is a better industry.

That's more to the point of why this team needs an overhaul up top. You can't explain how a team can be so effective for 40 minutes and just completely give games away in the third without the coach. You can't explain why we got locked into these ridiculous contracts to Tucker, Blake, McCabe and Kubina without the GM. But you also can't explain how these people got their jobs in the first place without the President. You're totally right that this team has become a long-term staple of mediocrity. Maybe it's time that there's a major shift away from the free agent buys and quick fixes towards better scouting, drafting and some patience in letting the team rebuild itself long term. And to do that, sure you might have to fire Paul Maurice, and JFJ almost definitely has to go but I hate that, for the most part, Richard Peddie has gotten off so easily.

I've heard they might be in the market for some help at SS. That's the only move I can really see them making. Don't fuck with what works pitching wise, and you just gotta hope those well-paid bats come back.

Jays resign Matt Stairs to a 2 year, 3.25 million dollar deal. I was really hoping that they wouldn't go stir crazy and offer him something unreasonable, but since this is technically a below average MLB contract (I believe the average player salary in 2006 was 2.6 million) offered to a guy who hit 21 home runs with a .289 BA last year I like it. Oh, and Riciardi recently clarified that the Jays won't in fact be joining the A-Rod sweepstakes. Shocking, that.