We’ve had some good feedback on the blog regarding the writers strike and how it will affect your viewing of Bionic Woman and your other favourite TV shows. So far it seems that most of you understand or sympathise with the writers fight to get a fair pay for their creations. However, yesterday a friend of mine asked me what I thought of the writers strike – I looked her in the eye and said “I support them, they’re only doing what I would do, they’re only fighting for fair pay”. She looked at me and replied “But what about LOST, Heroes and Bionic Woman?..what if this strike goes on for months and months. I don’t think you’d be so supportive!?”

Then it hit me..I’ve never really thought about it like that before. I mean sure, I have debated the prospect of this strike lasting a few months, but I’ve never thought about how I would feel 4, 5, 6+ months down the line, when I’m left with nothing but crap reality shows to watch. When my island adventure on “LOST” has been sliced onto 8 inconclusive episodes, when I have to wait the best part of a year to find out why the damned cheerleader is so important to the world, when BW may never get the chance to “re-launch”. You see, I like my favourite shows..I’ve waited 6 months to see the likes of LOST’s John Locke and Ben Linus..having to wait another year to see the whole of Season 4 would potentially kill the show. In that moment I began to question the strike..I mean it’s not only the viewers who are going to be suffering but technicians, caterers and other crew members – people who earn less money than the average Hollywood writers, people who can barely pay their mortgages, people who need that check at the end of the month in order to scrape through.

So I had to consider the fact that I support the strike, but at the same time I consider it ‘dangerous’ to carry out an action which negatively affects the livelihoods of others..an action which is designed to cause maximum devastation to an industry which entertains millions. With this in mind will I still support the writers strike in February? How about April?..May?..next November perhaps? I’m not going to lie, I just can’t answer that..it’s all relative and it depends on how ‘responsive’ and how ‘fair’ the negotiations are. What I will say is the same thing that I told my friend – “I would like to think that I would still support the strike in 6 months time, but it’s also up to the studios to do their bit in all of this..if they play fair then the writers will get back to work and we all win. After all what’s 4% for networks and studios who are set to earn unimaginable millions from ‘new media’?”.

I don’t begrudge the studio bigwigs earning money – they work hard too, one would think - but if you’re going to get rich from someone else’s product then you have to share the wealth appropriately. If we never see BW as a result of this strike it will be a mighty shame as the show is just finding it’s feet. If the strike is still on-going in a few months time then the finger will be pointed accusingly at the writers, but it should also be pointed at the studios because it’s clear that giving the writers only 4% from DVD sales and potentially 0% from “new media” profits is just not on. It’s exploitation and I always thought that one of the principles of Hollywood, indeed America, was that you were rewarded fairly for what you put in. Let’s hope so.

So, assuming the strike goes on for more than a few weeks, how long will you be able to tolerate and support the strike? Is there a cut-off point where you’ll begin to turn on the writers? Do they have a responsibility to be reasonable in the length of their strike?..or does the responsibility lay sqaurely with the studios? What is your opinion on the ‘weight of the wait’? Feel free to vote in the poll:

Also, you might like to check out Margie and Ryan over at WatchingBionicWoman.com as they have some powerful views on the subject.