TV Monger

After 11 hours of negotiations this past Sunday between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, Hollywood writers and the studios they work for were still unable to come to a deal.  According to CNN:

“The writers want more money from the sale of DVDs and a share of revenue generated by the sale of TV shows and films over the Internet. The studios say the demands are unreasonable and will hamper attempts to experiment with new media.”

The strike has forced at least eight prime-time shows to halt production.  And the lastest victim of this unfortunate occurrence is…gasp…NBC’s The Office.   Filming stopped immediately after Steve Carrell refused to cross the picket lines.  Other sitcoms that have stopped filming because they’ve run out of scripts are “Desperate Housewives,” “Two and a Half Men,” and “Rules of Engagement.”  Sally Field left the set of her hit show “Brother & Sisters” to visit the strike.  She told MSNBC:

“Writers are not being allowed to participate in the future of the business. This can be a very lucrative field, but also incredibly insecure for all of the artists, writers, actors and directors.”

Let’s hope the stingy networks can share a larger piece of the pie with the very people who make these shows popular in the first place…the genius writers who pen the jokes.  My TiVo is not going to be satisfied with reruns…