I generally have a hopeful personality. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. I can easily forgive.
But I have had it up to here with the television industry.
Shortly after the new year, the Screen Actor’s Guild will vote on whether or not to strike. Yes, just a year after the writer’s tore the heart out of the TV season, the actors might provide an encore performance.
I had just started to get into our weekly viewing routine. We had a nice rhythm going and looked forward to the addition of “Scrubs” to our schedule in January.
I know the actors pushing for a strike will talk about how they need to guarantee the future for their profession through payments for performances viewed online and stuff like that. But this goes way beyond royalties.
Now I will have to develop an entire new routine if the actors decide to take a stand. Don’t they realize the pain that will cause?
You can’t overestimate the importance of a well-planned television routine. Studies show that 62 percent of all violent crimes are caused by a disruption to someone’s viewing schedule. Or something like that.
We all work hard during the day. We shouldn’t have to wonder about our viewing options in the evening. The whims of people at the History Channel and Bravo shouldn’t have to define our evening.
I enjoy shows from those channels when I don’t have anything else to watch, but you can never tell when they will show the good stuff. And some of them, especially Bravo, think they can create compelling original programming.
The writer’s strike from last year has already cost television plenty of viewers. People either just fell out of their routines or found other options. A lot of those options now reside in the higher channel numbers and provide a poor substitution for the top network shows on right now.
Don’t the actors realize that if they strike, America might be subjected to yet another city full of “real housewives” who make you want to claw your eyes out? The show is bad enough as it is, but they might run out of interesting cities soon. Does anyone really want to see “The Real Housewives of Cleveland?”
That isn’t the only effect of last year’s strike. That action, coupled with the economy, means we have to look forward to five nights of Jay Leno at 10 p.m. I might accidentally tune in to him now. Until now, I could usually make sure I fell asleep before he came on. Now, all bets are off.
That’s why the actors need to think of someone other than themselves. They already have a pretty good life. I know they can’t change the Leno decision, but they can make sure that executives keep the rest of our viewing choices safe.
I worked long and hard to find shows which entertain me, get me to bed at a decent hour and give me something to talk about with friends. Don’t go screwing that up, Screen Actor’s Guild or I might make you sit and watch a “real housewives” marathon to see what you have started.