Writer's strike. Welcome to rerun heaven.

[Eli]

Just herd that 24 the TV show has been postponed indefinitely, another casualty to the ongoing writer's strike. Looks like TV is going to get real boring real soon. Not that there are a lot of great TV shows on at the moment anyhow, and certainly some of the writers on strike are probably more suitable for putting blurbs on soup cans.

Actually now that I think about it, TV these days is more like commercials broken up with a series of TV shows to inspire people to stick around for more commercials. No wonder video games are dominating the entertainment business. Me, I think I'll go back to reading books and taking long walks in the snow.

 

[thompo69]

Just herd that 24 the TV show has been postponed indefinitely, another casualty to the ongoing writer's strike. Looks like TV is going to get real boring real soon. Not that there are a lot of great TV shows on at the moment anyhow, and certainly some of the writers on strike are probably more suitable for putting blurbs on soup cans.

Actually now that I think about it, TV these days is more like commercials broken up with a series of TV shows to inspire people to stick around for more commercials. No wonder video games are dominating the entertainment business. Me, I think I'll go back to reading books and taking long walks in the snow.

From what I understand, we won't see much of an impact to the prime time dramas until January. That's when the production and broadcast gap will have caught up.

 

[1HandInMyPocket]

Just herd that 24 the TV show has been postponed indefinitely, another casualty to the ongoing writer's strike.

I heard they do have scripts for 8 eps, but rather air them followed by re-runs Fox has decided to delay filming till the strike is over. So some shows with scripts may still not decide to shoot.

 

[Sasha Jones]

Watching Grey's Anatomy last night we noticed that it said "New Episode, Keep Watching" and I thought, yeah but they didn't say that new episode would be on next thursday, this SUCKS!

 

[oldjones]

…edit…
Actually now that I think about it, TV these days is more like commercials broken up with a series of TV shows to inspire people to stick around for more commercials
.…edit…

What else is new? The amazing thing is, these days people actually pay cable companies to pump the junk <junk: slang=addictive drug> into their homes, commercials and all.

 

[lenharper]

name me ten movies better than the best of television in the last five years. are there many movies as well writted as "deadwood", "the sopranos", "the wire", "homicide-life on the street", "dexter", "curb your enthusiasm", seinfeld" "the simpsons", "friday night lights" -- and those are just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[Eli]

Just as long as Heroes is kept up to speed I'll be happy. I will miss 24 though. Journeyman is pretty good even though "Quantum Leap" has already been done. Reaper is a good show too. Then there is the return of Battlestar Galactica. As for LOST, well I think everyone lost interest in it by now.

Good thing I got DeJaView so I can watch old Lavern & Shirley episodes.

 

[shack]

name me ten movies better than the best of television in the last five years. are there many movies as well writted as "deadwood", "the sopranos", "the wire", "homicide-life on the street", "dexter", "curb your enthusiasm", seinfeld" "the simpsons", "friday night lights" -- and those are just the tip of the iceberg.

Godfather I/II
Memento
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Usual Suspects
Chinatown
Annie Hall
Lord of the Rings (all 3)
Fargo
Fight Club
Midnight Cowboy
Shawshank Redemption
Murder on the Orient Express
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
Thin Red Line
Marathon Man

 

[lenharper]

good list shack and I agree those are all fantastic movies and are equal and in many cases superior to the TV shows i mentioned (i would quibble about the lord of the rings trilogy and momento as pieces of writing) but with the exception of fight club, lotr and mometo most of the movies you have mentioned were made back when people at the studios actually cared about more than the bottom line -- right now, most of the writers in hollywood who are working at the top of their game are spending a lot more time working in TV.

 

[Don]

re-runs? Can care less. I don't watch much TV. Maybe it will encourage people to go out and do something useful with their life.

 

[Keebler Elf]

re-runs? Can care less. I don't watch much TV. Maybe it will encourage people to go out and do something useful with their life.

Like posting on TERB? lol

 

[Don]

Like posting on TERB? lol

Definately!

 

[Manji]

Watching Grey's Anatomy last night we noticed that it said "New Episode, Keep Watching" and I thought, yeah but they didn't say that new episode would be on next thursday, this SUCKS!

I think you'll be okay til January....Most shows have enough scripts to last til about the half way mark of 070/08 season....

 

[Manji]

Just as long as Heroes is kept up to speed I'll be happy. I will miss 24 though. Journeyman is pretty good even though "Quantum Leap" has already been done. Reaper is a good show too. Then there is the return of Battlestar Galactica. As for LOST, well I think everyone lost interest in it by now.

Good thing I got DeJaView so I can watch old Lavern & Shirley episodes.

Heroes apparently has filmed an alternate ending for their current story arc....If the strike goes on for a while they will use the alternate ending as a season finale....

New shows that have come this season that have been pretty good (or at least I've enjoyed):

Life....The captain (Captain Winters) from "Band of Brothers" is in it...Pretty good cop drama

Carpoolers....Pretty funny comedy...Kind of like 30 Rock...

Heard BattleStar Galatica's new season might not be out til mid Spring....Maybe longer with the writer's strike....

 

[viciouscycle]

what he said.....
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gKZLFGrnU1g

 

[Powershot]

Jack Bauer lives, end of story.

 

[elmufdvr]

they are all over paid for crappy shows.. T.V. in general is just more worm food for your brain... get a life ..here is an idea.. Pick up a book.. humm maybe actually start a conversation with your family and make it interesting.. Who truly gives a F#ck? I Don't... waaaaaaaaaa

 

[shack]

good list shack and I agree those are all fantastic movies and are equal and in many cases superior to the TV shows i mentioned (i would quibble about the lord of the rings trilogy and momento as pieces of writing) but with the exception of fight club, lotr and mometo most of the movies you have mentioned were made back when people at the studios actually cared about more than the bottom line -- right now, most of the writers in hollywood who are working at the top of their game are spending a lot more time working in TV.

Keep in mind also that your list includes Simpsons and Seinfeld which both started a long time ago. I could probably come up with a good list of movies from that same time frame.

I do agree with your point, there is still lots of good TV on. But there always has been. It's just that like with music, movies and TV it seems you have to search a bit harder to find it since so much in mainstream culture gets dumbed down to the lowest common denominator.

 

[Eli]

Yeah, I pulled a Homer and ordered satellite then found out a few days later about the writer's strike, doh!

A few things I've noticed about modern TV programming:

More commercials at odd intervals.
Commercials are LOUD, like scramble for the remote to turn the TV down loud.
Commercials are more obnoxious or otherwise display poor taste.

Too many shows are all about building tension with little or no relief till you get to the series finale. Which can be rather annoying, like six months of blue balls. Which is why I liked 24 so much because they would at least hit the release valve every so often before the finale.

Token Black guy/girl (sometimes replaced by token Asian guy/girl). Nearing 2008 and we still have tokenism?

The Simpsons show still rocks.
The Food Network has some of the most entertaining programming.
The Discovery Channel still teaches me new and interesting things.
The Space channel has become really boring. Looks like no one wants to write decent Sci-Fi anymore, exception to Battle Star Galactica.
If you happen to be home on a Friday night Sin Cities on Showcase is a good bet.
I know there must be lot's of great BBC shows somewhere on the dial but I can never find them.

 

[Manji]

Here's a list of shows and how many episodes have been aired and how many are left (meaning that shows's season may end prematurely if the strike is not resolved):


30 Rock: Ten episodes will be produced. Five episodes have aired, so there are five left.

Back to You: Nine episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are three left.

Bionic Woman: Roughly nine episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are three left.

Bones: Twelve episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are six left.

Boston Legal: Fifteen episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are nine left.

Brothers & Sisters: Twelve episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are six left.

Chuck: Thirteen episodes will be produced. Seven episodes have aired, so there are six left.

CSI: NY: Fourteen episodes will be produced. Seven episodes have aired, so there are seven left.

Desperate Housewives: Ten episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are four left.

Dirty Sexy Money: Eleven episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are five left.

Friday Night Lights: Fifteen episodes will be produced. The sixth episode airs tonight, Nov. 9, so there are nine left.

Gossip Girl: Thirteen episodes will be produced. Seven episodes have aired, so there are six left.

Grey's Anatomy: Eleven episodes will be produced. Seven episodes have aired, so there are four left.

Heroes: Twelve episodes will be produced. Seven episodes have aired, so there are five left.

House: Twelve episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are six left.

Jericho: Seven episodes will be produced. None have aired yet, so there are seven episodes left.

Law & Order: SVU: Fourteen episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are eight left.

Lost: Eighth episodes will be produced. None have aired yet, so there eight episodes left.

Medium: Nine episodes will be produced. None have aired yet, so there are nine episodes left.

Men in Trees: Nineteen episodes will be produced. The fifth episode airs tonight, Nov. 9, so there are 14 left.

Numbers: Twelve episodes will be produced. The seventh episodes airs tonight, Nov. 9, so there are five left.

The Office: Twelve half-hour episodes will be produced. Eleven half-hour episodes have aired, so there is one half-hour episode left.

Prison Break: Thirteen episodes will be produced. Seven episodes have aired, so there are six left.

Private Practice: Ten or 11 episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are four or five left.

Pushing Daisies: Nine episodes will be produced. Five episodes have aired, so there are four left.

Reaper: Ten to 12 episodes will be produced. Seven episodes have aired, so there are three to five left.

Samantha Who?: Twelve episodes will be produced. Four episodes have aired, so there are eight left.

Scrubs: Twelve episodes will be produced. Three episodes have aired, so there are nine left.

Shark: Eleven episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are five left.

Smallville: Fifteen episodes will be produced. Seven episodes have aired, so there are eight left.

Supernatural: Ten to 12 episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are four to six left.

Ugly Betty: Twelve or 13 episodes will be produced. Seven episodes have aired, so there are five or six left.