Best Thing to Happen to TV

This is going to sound awful, but the writers' strike may have just been the best thing to happen to tv in a long time. Now, taking two months off and sitting in rerun/game show hell may have just made me all the more appreciative of the writing on a real series, but I don't think that is it. While I don't believe a pen (or pencil) actually was pressed to the paper, or a finger to the keyboard, during the writers' strike, I also don't believe the writers stop the most important part of the creative process from happening... their imagination did not go on strike. I am going to go out on a limb and say it was actually heightened by the strike because they had such a limited time to come back and prove themselves before finales.

I have seen some of the best individual episodes and best storyline arcs in years come out in the last 2 months since the writers have been back at work. I am truly enjoying tv again. Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but improvement helps as well.

This evening's House was engaging, imaginative, and suspenseful. I can't wait to see next week's episode. I have felt that way several times in the last week as I watched episode after episode of beloved shows which have redeemed themselves and proven why the writers deserve all and more that they held out for.

This season has also proven to be the season of the women. From Survivor's female alliance to Women's Murder Club and the two shows with exactly the same premise Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle women have taken over the airwaves. This year is all about Girl Power and I am loving it. While I don't enjoy all the women's shows that have come out, I completely embrace the idea of them. The best of the shows are the ones that don't use sex to push the women to the top, hence why I prefer WMC to CM or LJ.

So what are your thoughts post strike. What have you seen improvement in and what needs to be shown the editing room floor before next season?

Finally Something to Write About...

Hopefully the writers will be again too. http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-strikeendgame0208,0,1810839.story

Not only do we have the good news that negotiations may actually amount to something, but we have also had the arrival of a decent new show.

For those of you who have missed the first two episodes of Eli Stone, you need to catch up on ABC's online episodes. It has all the whimsy of Ally McBeal while hitting some serious topics that are relevant and yet have not been brought into the public eye enough (i.e. Autism being linked to preservatives in immunizations.) Now, if only there was a dancing baby.

Speaking of babies, my absence from the blog has only partially been linked to the lack of actual programming to write about. I have also had my own dancing baby join my line-up. My hospital stay brought about my worst television experience ever.

I ended up in a shared room in the mommy-baby ward. The family sharing the room felt the need to have their television on all 48 hours they were in the hospital. I had no idea there were people who actually watched the preachers that are on at 3am and Jerry Springer in the same 24 hour span. My daughter's first exposure to television was listening to paternity results on Maury Povich, Family Guy cultural reference slams, and infomercials. There are actually people who watch 10-15 hours of CW programming in a day. I came home from complete sensory overload from listening to the worst that television has to offer for 48 hours straight to find that my DVR had lost all power and had to be replaced. I went from a 48 hour relay of tv to a 48 hour purge of tv. I have since recovered and am able to watch and listen to tv without any recurring tremors.

With the possible return of beloved shows I am wondering what you are most excited to see return to the small screen.

Coming to an end

As many of my favorite shows have been creeping to the end of their script run I have had a hard time getting the words out myself. I can't believe the unions are not even in discussions right now. Many of the networks are putting their actors on "suspension" so they can cut their pay during the down time, but not lose them all together. However, that, in most cases, only lasts 6 weeks. Hopefully, the pinch will hit the networks by the holidays and post-Christmas they will be willing to go back to the table. There are a lot of out-of-work tv and film workers who could use a Christmas gift like that.

I did read an upside to the strike. Many start-ups that were given full seasons before the strike will end up having to come back in the fall due to the number of episodes that have been contracted and the possibility that no new shows will be premiering since they aren't being written right now. Speculation is that January '09 will be where we see many premieres next year since the time line is out of flux. So, mediocre ratings shows (don't confuse that with the shows themselves being mediocre) may get a chance to redeem themselves that they wouldn't have had without the strike. Two shows that are being given as examples of this are: Dirty Sexy Money and Carpoolers, both on my list of best new shows this season.

History has been made this week with the signing of the first internet show to a major network. Quarterlife, created by the same guys (Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick) who brought us thirtysomething and My So-Called Life, was picked up by NBC this week. They were able to write through the strike since they were writing for the internet, but no new shows can be added now until the strike is ended. This could also cause a backlash within the writing community since other writers could cheat by writing for internet in hopes of being signed as well.

I have not yet gone to the internet to find my couch companion, but may be forced to soon. For those of you who are regular internet viewers, what should I be watching? For those of you who aren't, what will it take for you to search out a new series on youtube? For all, at what point in this strike will you be forced to turn off the tv and what will you do with your time when you do?