Past Opinion Articles

Article for the week of 11/19/07

These Writer’s Guild folks struck back in ’88 too. Of course then they got what they wanted. They got their money. But back then there was at least a little quality TV programming left. Now we get things like ER, and the “New” Sesame Street. I mean how many times can we take Elmo changing? What’s next the Pickle me Elmo that drinks like a fish? I mean really, that’s about all they can come up with anymore. Sure sex and violence sell, but isn’t there a breaking point?

Personally I say lets pitch all these striking violets out the door and get us some new budding writers. We need to find new talent. Someone that can give us more intelligently written stuff than “T and A” … er…. I mean “Battlestar Galactica” and the like. It’s true that all the ideas in the world have been around for a very long time, but there are so many good ones that get shoved by the wayside for the violence and sex. Not sure why it is but it seems to me that all we see anymore is more T and A shows that have enormous amounts of blood and guts violence.

We want a picture not a belly itcher! Uh wait! No that isn’t right. We want television with quality stories. Plots! Plots! Plots! Being a writer myself I often wonder just what happened to the Plot of a story. When it comes to television the dialogue is canned and jejune. I seem to remember learning somewhere that television was just another way to convey the stories we pass down. You know verbal storytelling…. Storytelling with pictographs…

Just keep this in mind folks. If you walk away from a television show or movie and say “wow what great special effects” but can’t say anything about the story. What good are the Writers?