The only fish lower on the food chain in Hollywood than the writer is the janitor’s assistant, and it’s possible the lackey gets more respect. Yet despite this perception, without writers there is very little entertainment content on film and television. And now without a contract, all the writers in Hollywood are on the dole and shows are halting production.
There are time slots, however, and the media conglomerates must fill them. Stuff them with super goodness, no doubt. Reruns might work for awhile. Sooner or later, the audience will want fresh stuff. Well, there is a way producers can deliver new entertainment content without a writer: our old friend Reality TV.
Sure we all love Survivors Whore Sister meets Amazingly Lame Race, but at the end of the day most people prefer scripted shows to reality TV. Well, I could be wrong. Perhaps people truly prefer unscripted melodrama to polished drama. After all, the great wave brought us the Osbornes, Dog the Bounty Hunter, and the Real World, the producers of which all conceded to scripting at least parts of the show. So maybe even reality TV shows need writers, though they can technically say they don’t.
One demographic that loves reality TV concepts are producers and studios, because going sans script eliminates the need for a writer. The less they pay for the product in the first place, the more coke they can snort off the pool boy. Not that we are talking about a huge amount of drugs–most writers subsist near or below the poverty line–but every little bit helps.
So a moment of silence for the striking writers in film and television.
May the one percent who make a living writing make a little nicer living in the near future.
