ASU students are already missing fresh episodes of their favorite shows and they may have to wait longer if the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers can't come to a resolution of the current writers' strikes.
On Monday, the AMPTP announced on its Web site that it would resume talks with the Writers Guild of America to come to a resolution regarding revenues from "new media." "New media" includes those Web-isodes offered for free online, Internet downloading and podcasts.
However, a timeline for talks could last anywhere from days to weeks, said Daniel Bernardi, director of the film and media studies department at ASU.
"If things are settled soon, (the shows) will pick up soon," Bernardi said. "It won't devastate (the companies). But episodes late in the season may be rushed and not as interesting, since everything would have to be all fast-paced (because of the time spent with the strike)."
Everything in film and television starts with the writer, he said.
"The reason why you see so much crap is because the writing is poor, and when you see something brilliant, it's also the writing," Bernardi said.
John Pardee, executive producer of the ABC primetime show "Desperate Housewives" and a more than 16 year member of the Writers Guild of America, spends most of his time nowadays picketing instead of writing.
The guild began its strike on Nov. 5 against more than 2,000 production studios and film companies, including NBC, CBS, Warner Bros. Television and Walt Disney Pictures and Television.
"The general thinking is, from our point of view, when the last contract was finalized some 19 years ago, DVDs were the 'new media' of the day and the AMPTP took a 'let's wait and see how it goes' stance, which we agreed to," Pardee said in an e-mail. "It was a huge mistake."
DVDs went on to generate billions of dollars, and writers haven't seen much in residuals, or payments to writers for each viewing of a previously recorded episode, he said.
"Now, with the Internet, (the AMPTP) is trying the 'let's wait and see' stance again, and we're saying 'Oh, no, you're NOT doing that to us again,'" he said.
Pardee, who has been with the show since it started in 2004, said that even now, three weeks later, the picketing is still prevalent in Hollywood.
"We've had the entire cast of 'Desperate Housewives' come down and picket with us at one time or another, and not just when the (Entertainment Tonight) film crews were there," he said. "I don't think a day has gone by without one or two recognizable actors coming down to Lankershim Boulevard and carrying a sign around."
Right now, "Desperate Housewives" has only two more episodes "in the can" before the show runs out of new material, Pardee said.
"Then, I guess they'll fill schedule with re-runs and reality programming," he said. "It's not good financially for them, either. I have to believe they want this to end too."
Laura Kennedy, a broadcast journalism and communication junior and "Desperate Housewives" fan, said she was devastated to hear that the writers' strikes might mean no new episodes of her favorite show.
"I'm really disappointed we won't be able to get to the conclusion of any of the stories," Kennedy said.
If ABC stopped airing new episodes of the show, it would really put a damper on the storyline, she said.
"I'll just have to watch Christmas movies and Christmas specials over the winter break," Kennedy said.
Reach the reporter at: amanda.chan@asu.edu.
