The Hollywood Writers Strike

It is no small wonder that in late 2007 TV networks are still airing episodes of I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, Leave It To Beaver, the original Star Trek, Bonanza and Gunsmoke.

Some of these shows are over 50 years old. However they were well written. The shows were esentially little morality plays. There was nothing in them that you would not want to watch with your mother sitting next to you. They did not contain profanity or sexual innuendo and no nudity.






Marshall Dillon would eventually have to shoot the bad guy. However the scofflaws always were given the opportunity to get outta' Dodge. The story would be about the conflict, about what made the bad guy bad and the good guy good. And the bad guy always drew his gun first. Matt Dillon was bigger, tougher and faster. It was a microcosm of what it took to succeed in the real world.


So the Hollywood writers are on strike. God bless 'em. We have to settle for repeats. But you know what? I am sick of Law & Order, CSI and all the other shows that are on at the dinner hour.

My wife and I are trying to eat spaghetti and be entertained, when TV land transport us into a dimly lit morgue and we sell the intestines of a "vic" laid out before us and the gray bearded coroner is holding up the brain showing the trajectory of the 33 caliber hollowpoint. These shows have become trite and hackeneyd.


Though I have seen these episodes more than two dozen times, I for one would prefer to watch Andy and Barney rounding up the women the escaped from prison or avoiding Aunt Bea's awful homemade pickles.


When your strike is over, I suggest that those of you writing TV shows pick a new genre. Let's go back to variety shows or wholesome family sitcoms.