Writers' strike leaves students sick of reality TV

By Brittany Benjamin

Flipping through the channels Sunday night, many students found the mindless television needed to soothe stressful thoughts before the start of the quarter.

Perhaps they even stumbled upon NBC's revival of "American Gladiators."

Alas, some freshmen students were probably perplexed when trying to remember the original show's airing date. Their confusion is understandable.

They may not have been born yet.

Premiering in 1989, it has been over 18 years since "American Gladiators" debuted. It's been 12 years since its 1996 cancellation, but on Sunday, the show returned to national television.

"American Gladiators (2008)" is only one of many reality and game shows replacing scripted television because of the Writers Guild of America strike.

Networks are scrambling to find any shows that will continue to draw ratings as the strike continues. As a result, Santa Clara students are going weeks without seeing fresh episodes of their favorite shows.

"It really sucks because everyone is missing out on their favorite shows," said sophomore Alex Nelson, who watched "The Office" religiously until the writers' strike. "Hopefully it'll be over soon."

Since the Nov. 5 walk out, not much has changed in the two-month duration of the strike.

Writers are still humming the same tune they were two months ago.

Both television and motion picture writers are demanding subsidies for the movies and shows bought and watched through iTunes. Additionally, television writers are asking for compensation for episodes streamed through the internet.

Their song is still met with silence from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, whose representatives say media sources broadcasting the material are still too new for a specific contract to be put into place.

Meanwhile, every second production remains shut down the entertainment industry loses money. Movie shoots have been stalled due to much-needed script rewrites that have been put on hold. Additionally, many actors have walked out to show support.

According to Time magazine writer Rebecca Winters, WGA's 1988 strike, their previous strike, cost the industry an estimated $500 million dollars. It lasted 22 weeks.

We are now in week 10.

As a result of the strike, programming changes are affecting students' television viewing.

While the visual effect on the movie industry is harder to measure, since the turnaround time from film to production to movie theater is longer than in television, television is already visibly suffering.

Many of students' favorite primetime shows -- "The Office," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives," for example -- have been airing repeats since late November and early December, forcing students to find other ways to stay entertained.

"I've started watching more movies in the meantime, waiting for them to work it out," said sophomore Andrew Shenstone, who said he misses watching "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

Must-see TV is not the only television taking a hit.

On Tuesday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the cancellation of the 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards. Instead of the standard awards ceremony, the winners will be announced during an hour-long press conference covered live on NBC News starting at 6 p.m., Jan. 13.

Late-night television has seen its own problems.

Upon walk out, late-night television immediately went into reruns. Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel and Craig Ferguson were all shut down.

Jan. 2, nine weeks into the strike, these shows returned with fresh episodes. "Worldwide Pants," Letterman's production company, reached an independent agreement with the show's writers in slating their return to both Letterman's and Ferguson's shows.

Leno, Kimmel and O'Brien also returned, sans the aid of their writers, though O'Brien did sport a beard he said he's been growing since the start of the strike.

Students will also see an influx in unscripted television. This includes new reality shows -- or in the case of "American Gladiators," a revival of old ones.

ABC debuts "Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann," featuring "Dancing with the Stars" judges Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba as coaches for their own respective dance teams. Think "American Idol" meets "So You Think You Can Dance."

With all this flash (literally --there's bound to be a lot of sequins in "Dance War"), students may get the impression that television networks are trying to distract them from the fact that reruns of their favorite shows are still being aired.

"The Office" has been in repeats since Nov. 15. Sunday saw the first new episode of "Desperate Housewives" since Dec. 2. "Grey's Anatomy" will finally be new tonight, with its first fresh episode since Dec. 6.

The "fresh" shows airing this week are the last episodes written before the strike, providing viewers with what could be very early season finales if the strike is not resolved soon.

"It gives you something to look forward to every week, and it wasn't there," said freshman Cristina Sansone.

These occasional fresh episodes are leaving students tantalizingly hungry for more without any result.

What's left?

Besides the return of "Lost," which is impossible to follow these days, you're left with reality television.

The question all students will find themselves asking before this strike is over: Is there such a thing as too much reality?

Contact Brittany Benjamin at (408) 551-1918 or brbenjamin@scu.edu.