Showing support for the writers

By Katie Powers

For once, Hollywood is at the center of my attention for the right reason.

The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since Nov. 5, and all of our favorite shows are at a standstill.

"The Daily Show." Re-runs. "Saturday Night Live." Re-runs. "Jay Leno." Re-runs.

Now people are forgetting about their dumb reality favorites and imagining a world without the wit of "The Office," the breathtaking gasps of "Gossip Girls," the drama of "Grey's," the excitement of "Heroes" and the cattiness of "Desperate Housewives."

Scanning through an article in the Los Angeles Times, I see that production has ended on almost every prime time show. Most shows have only a few episodes left before they will have to stop airing, or start airing reruns.

Where will I be without Michael, Dwight, Jim and Pam to give me some real-world relief and a happy Thursday night leading into the weekend? Without Serena and Blair of "Gossip Girls" so I can vicariously emulate the Upper East Side giddy high school experience I imagine?

I'll be, in spirit, with the strikers of the WGA. WGA West unanimously chose to strike after studios repeatedly ignored nine of the WGA's proposals about DVDs, internet reuse, original writing for new media and jurisdiction.

WGA West President Patric M. Verrone announced the strike Nov. 2 at a press conference. He also said a thing or two about the studios.

"These conglomerates have enjoyed tremendous financial success off the backs of literally tens of thousands of people ... One part of that community is the writers, whose work serves as the blueprint for programs and movies. And, although the industry's pie is continually growing, our share continues to shrink," he said.

Why are the writers left unpaid? Because they aren't the sexy ones in front of the camera? They aren't the greedy ones in the production studio?

The writers, above all, are responsible for a series. Actors make the magic happen, but without a writer's intuition, a character is blank.

The 10,000 members of WGA deserve better compensation. The studios should act now, for not only the writers, but also the audience, and importantly, the crew.

The L.A. Times reported that many of the studios are using this strike as "burn-out," keeping the writers they want and trashing others they don't.

Well, just as the studios are leaving the writers hanging, maybe the writers should boycott forever and be in control of the studios.

But it doesn't really work like that, does it?