Striking Scribes

"The writers' strike has started today, and the writers themselves will be picketing studios and making themselves heard. If the Writers Guild of America strike keeps TV scribes off the job for a while, it's going to alter your viewing habits big time. The WGA called for a work stoppage after failing to get a bigger slice of revenue from DVD sales and a piece of what the networks expect to earn from digital downloads of TV shows.

While procedurals such as CSI and Criminal Minds tend to draw viewers in repeats – giving CBS an edge over the competition - the network has been loading up on game shows. Power of 10, a moderate success over the summer, will be back. CBS also has Do You Trust Me and a new version of Password hosted by Regis Philbin.

The network is also ready to let the cameras roll in the Big Brother house if necessary. On the scripted side, you'll definitely see all seven produced episodes of Jericho. The network will also have close to 13 episodes of The New Adventures of Old Christine ready to go. The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson will go dark immediately, but the conventional wisdom is that Letterman will return after a few weeks out so that the rest of his staff can remain employed. Once he returns, so will Ferguson."





"Jay Leno rolled up to a picket line on his motorcycle with doughnuts for striking writers at NBC.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus marched with pickets at Warner Bros. in the shadow of a giant billboard advertising her CBS show, "The New Adventures of Old Christine."

Even Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama weighed in with a prepared statement urging producers to work with writers to end the strike.

Writers got a little help from their famous friends on Monday as the Screen Writers Guild launched their strike against movie studios and TV networks."