Ledger Pop Journal - Celebrity News & Sports

Soap opera fans needn't get in a lather about the Writers Guild strike, which commenced this week. All of the soaps have enough material to go through January of next year. After that? Most likely others folks will be taking over the writing tasks, just as they did in the strike 20 years ago that lasted over 22 weeks.

The Writer's Strike and Soap Operas

In fact, one of the most bizarre storylines came out of that strike. The late, great "Search for Tomorrow" had a beloved character named Ellie, who was married to Stu. Ellie was the show's long-suffering saint. During the writer's strike, several of the actors began writing scripts. At one meeting, a writer commented that it would be a hoot if Ellie left her husband, Stu, for a chef. The group of faux writer's laughed and then made it the central storyline. Not a great idea.

With soaps being the only fresh television on the air, they may get a few new viewers who TiVo by day and watch by night. What is the strike about? The Writers Guild of America is attempting to get a cut of revenue from new media, including mobile media. Specifically, the writers "want better compensation for new media uses of their work -- the Internet, mobile phones and digital music players -- than they received when their products were recycled on videocassette and DVDs.

No matter where you are in the world, you can watch repeats of "Gilligan's Island." Because it's such a funny show? Nope. Little buddy, it's because when "Gilligan's" was produced, actors, writers, etc. did not get residuals on anything. So the show could play over 10,000 times (and it did), and only the studios saw any money.

Viewers who turned on late-night shows this week saw reruns. Guys like Jay Leno and David Letterman, who just seem to grab funny out of the air, really grab it from writers. On their own, they are not so funny. Timing is everything in comedy and perhaps in this strike. Production has closed down on shows like "24." Jack Bauer may not get to save the world this year.

Whatever shows you're watching, it all begins with the written word. Without those written words, actors would have nothing to say (unless they're talking about themselves), directors would be directing their kids to go to sleep and producers would just sit back in their leather chairs and not mess with everybody's lives.

For now, daytime drama viewers can truly tune in tomorrow and get fresh stuff.