I haven’t watched a lot of TV this fall, aside from Dr. Phil and Judge Judy, that is*, because with The Sopranos done and Lost and Battlestar Galactica not returning until mid-winter at the earliest, we went from having three of my four all-time favorite dramas** on the air to zero and it knocked the wind out of my sails. Because I love them so, I’ve been very curious as to the impact the WGA strike would have on Lost and BSG‘s already convoluted scheduling. A pair of interviews with the shows’ striking creators tell the tale, and in the process shed light on the absurd and rapacious behavior of the networks and studios that led things to this sorry pass.
First up is Ronald D. Moore of Battlestar Galactica, interviewed at IGN. He says that they will have the first 10 episodes of Season Four available to air, which brings things up to the mid-season cliffhanger, and then nothin’. This isn’t that big of a change from the pre-strike status quo, considering how SciFi Channel was dickering with the notion of splitting the season in half and not showing part two until 2009 anyway, but it forces that particular hand. Moore also has one of the most illuminating examples of the kind of shenanigans the writers are up against:
“I had a situation last year on Battlestar Galactica where we were asked by Universal to do webisodes [Note: Moore is referring to The Resistance webisodes which ran before Season 3 premiered], which at that point were very new and ‘Oooh, webisodes! What does that mean?’ It was all very new stuff. And it was very eye opening, because the studio’s position was ‘Oh, we’re not going to pay anybody to do this. You have to do this, because you work on the show. And we’re not going to pay you to write it. We’re not going to pay the director, and we’re not going to pay the actors.’ At which point we said ‘No thanks, we won’t do it.’ We got in this long, protracted thing and eventually they agreed to pay everybody involved. But then, as we got deeper into it, they said ‘But we’re not going to put any credits on it. You’re not going to be credited for this work. And we can use it later, in any fashion that we want.’ At which point I said ‘Well, then we’re done and I’m not going to deliver the webisodes to you.’ And they came and they took them out of the editing room anyway — which they have every right to do. They own the material — But it was that experience that really showed me that that’s what this is all about. If there’s not an agreement with the studios about the internet, that specifically says ‘This is covered material, you have to pay us a formula – whatever that formula turns out to be – for use of the material and how it’s all done,’ the studios will simply rape and pillage.”
That’s pretty astounding to me. Moore goes on to viciously insult the networks’ argument about not knowing how to make money online. Read it. (Via Jason Adams.)
Next is Lost‘s Damon Lindelof, interviewed at E!. Points of interest:
1) Eight episodes for Season 4 have been filmed so far and they will start airing in February as planned.
2) The eighth episode is a major cliffhanger.
3) If the strike continues long enough for the remaining eight episodes of Season 4 not to air this year, it screws up their plans for the final three 16-episode seasons considerably.
In related news, a series of Lost webisodes are slated to debut on Monday–a year or so later than they were supposed to, of course, because of the very issues the writers are on strike over. (Via The Lost Blog.)
*Totally not kidding.
**Twin Peaks.
I’ve been a huge Judge Judy and Dr. Phil fan for years, though no one really believes me. Judge Joe Brown is up there, too. He’s the Hammer of Justice!
Some of the cast and crew of The Office mock the idea of Web content being “promos” here. So far the writers have done a much better job of getting their side across. Imagine that.
Animal sex.
Animal sex.