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LETTER ON WRITERS STRIKE

Bradley Laing writes:

I have some confusions over the writers strike. In part, that may be because
nobody knows, so confusing accounts end up in the news accounts I’ve seen and heard.

First confusion: is there a date in January or February of 2008 that the writers strike *must* be settled by for there to be a “spring television season”?

Is there a date by which the strike must be settled, or there will not be *any programming at all* in the spring?

A Television critic on Public Radios “Fresh Air” said a week ago that it was already too late for a “Spring television season.” Slightly before that in the interview, he said that it would take months for drama scripted programming to resume, and only a week for situation comedy programming to resume.

Depending on which part of the interview, he was either saying: it’s over, no original scripted programming at all in march, April and May of 2008. Or he was saying, there is still time for a ragged scheduale of sitcoms, but no dramas, if the strike is settled soon enough.

But what he thought would be “soon enough”—I don’t know.

J. J. Abrahams, show runner of the series “Lost” wrote that if the strike stretched on for three months, there would be no spring 2008 TV season.

The strike started November 5, 2007. Does that mean February 5, 2008 is the day that *both* sitcoms and drama programming for march, April and May are impossible?

Or does it leave open the possibility of sitcoms, even for the “May Sweeps?”

Lastly, somebody, I cannot remember who, suggested that the networks would pay for new episodes, and stretch the 2007-2008 season out into June, July, August of 2008. Because the idea of a “TV season” is the networks idea, and they can abandon it if they want to. And just run shows, instead.

One thing that seems likely is that January and February are a mixture of reality shows, game shows, filmed mid-season replacements, and leftover established shows, on the networks.

What I really, really would like to know is how the mass audience will behave. Will they bolt to movie theaters? Public events? Stay and watch the reality shows? Fill in the Blank?

Another confusing item is the idea of pilot episodes. Abrahams seemed to think the pilot season would die on February 5, 2008, with no news network series until January of 2009. The Public Broadcasting interview seemed to think they could save the pilot season by settling soon enough, for broadcasting in fall 2008.

A news account said something like 50% of the pilots could still be salvaged if the strike ended in early February. Which is not the same as Abrahams idea of the pilot season dying altogeher in early February.

—Maybe nobody really knows, and it is all guess work.

READERS: FEEL FREE TO RESPOND….

A KENYAN SAYS: TEXT MESSAGES NOT ALLOWED

I sent a text message to my family and this is what I got…

“The ministry if Internal security urges you to please desist from
sending or forwarding any SMS that may cause public unrest. This may lead to your prosecution”

Hello? 260 people dead and it will is expected to rise.

What the heck is going on in my country?

ON MY ARTICE ON MAO—TWO EXPERTS DISAGREE ON IT

Bud Nathans writes from Florida:

Danny Schechter refers to Mao as Mao Tse Tung.

This old Wade-Giles romanization of Chinese was laid to rest nearly 30 years ago.

It’s helpful if we all embrace the current pin-yin system, in order to finally universalize transliteration into the Weste