Strike Out

I guess if we're going to keep up this fruitless charade of having a blog, somebody should post something. Mike keeps saying he'll post-- something about a certain High School Musical star and her botched nose job-- but he never seems to get around to it. I'm not sure he enjoys writing. (Totally called that, by the way.) Now, granted, it's not like I've been Captain Frequent-Updates either. But at least I have an excuse: my near-total lack of knowledge or interest in the general goings-on of the world. So...yeah. Not my fault.

But I guess I'll chime in on this writer's strike. This thing just keeps going, doesn't it? It's as if the people involved are more concerned about their own well-being than the fact that I no longer have anything to do with my time. Asses. By now, most shows have completely used up their stock of new episodes, leaving us with an unappealing selection of reruns and poorly thought-out reality shows. (Celebrity Apprentice? What the hell, man? How is anyone learning about marketing and business if Gene Simmons can just call up some millionaire friend and say, "Buy a hot dog from me for $10,000. Okay, we win!")

At least Lost is coming back for a truncated 8-episode season. And Survivor is returning with a half-All Star season (by which I mean half the cast are All-Stars, not that the All-Stars have each been sliced in half. That would be messy). But pretty much every show that was on in the fall-- which Mike and I so helpfully previewed for you a few months ago-- is pretty much finished for the season, with their return date unknown. Heck, 24's entire season has been scrapped, which means we'll have to live with the sour taste of Season 6 in our mouths for another year.

Well, it's not a total loss. All the late-night shows have recently returned to the air, though most without their writers. I'm not sure that's going to work too well for, say, The Daily Show, which relies almost excusively on its writers (except the interview portions, which are usually the lamest part of the show). But actually, Conan O'Brien has been really good without writers. He's the most naturally funny of any of the late-night hosts, so he can carry a show by himself. Hell, I'm starting to think the writers have been dragging him down all these years with their terrible monologue jokes and such. Let's just see more footage of Conan crashing an NBC studio tour or interrupting his staff's game of Rock Band. Funny stuff.

Anyway, this strike can't last forever, but it sure is a pain in the ass. The other day, I almost resorted to reading a book. I kid you not! A book! It's a dark, dark world out there, friends.