This Week In edubTV

I finally went through with that New Year's Resolution and bought the domain name for the humble blog. You can now get here just by going to edubTV.com. Feel free to update your Google Readers and favorite websites on Facebook accordingly.

Three cheers for legitimacy!

Photo: http://weblogs.mozillazine.org

Writers Strike: Day 6

Just some talk:

• Ellen Degeneres, the first host to break the lines and go back to work, is feeling the heat. Her reasons for going back make sense. She didn't want to to disappoint fans who had planned vacations around seeing her show. Plus, she's syndicated so sweeps is a big time for her. But nothing is as good as a resolution of this dispute. One of her former writers had this to say.

• Scribe Vibe, Variety's strike blog, had some great photos of kids and animals getting on on the picket line. Babies and puppies can even make standing for hours in the LA sun look appealing.
  

• 102 crew members who work on The Office were let go. 102 people. If you didn't think this was a big deal, if you didn't think this was going to effect people, if you thought this was just a blip on your news radar, it's not. This is serious business.
  

edubTV Readers Assemble!

edubTV readers: I need all five of you to listen up!

It's 2008 and along with my personal resolutions (watch out Water Aerobics class, I'm making my splash again) and TV resolutions, I am also making a resolution or too for this blog.

You can blame this idea on the blogging book I got for Christmas. Yes, I can hear it too, the nerd alert is sounding loud and clear. But regardless, I want to do the following things:

• Buy the domain (don't buy it out from under me because I'll freak out and cry)
• Find or design a sweet layout (red is awesome, but we all deserve something more pleasing to look at)
• And add a weekly, or bi-weekly podcast

This is where all of you come in. What do want this podcast to be about? It can be show specific: American Idol, Lost, etc. Or genre specific: What's new in reality, My weekly rant on why I hate CSI, etc. Or even more general than that: General updates, writers strike news, etc.

I am just excited to use some of the new technology out there, so the content is just an added bonus. If you could leave a comment, talk to me in person, find me on Facebook or give me a call with any ideas that would be awesome.

Writers Strike: Weekly Update

• NBC late-night heavyweights Jay Leno & Conan O'Brien are headed back to work on January 2nd. The press releases from both hosts sited the non-writing staff as the primary reason for the return. While it's admirable, it's also disheartening. Re-runs of late-night shows are the only evidence of the strike for some people. If they go back on the air, some may think the writers are losing the struggle, or worse, that the fight is over. 

• Letterman is coming back to the airwaves even sooner, but since he owns the rights to his show, he negotiated with the writers and they've come to an independent resolution. That's class.

• If you'd like to tell the Los Angeles City Council how you feel about the strike, here are some instructions, names, e-mail addresses and even a form letter. Now you have no excuse. 

•  Maybe an all out battle like this wouldn't be a bad idea. At least everyone would go out swinging. 

• President of the Screen Actors Guild, Alan Rosenberg, wrote a statement of solidarity to the WGA. The two guilds are working very closely on this strike, as SAG is due for contract negotiations in the spring, on most of the same terms. The partnership is also going to make for a boring awards season. The actors aren't breaking the writers picket lines at the Golden Globes and presumably The Oscars. However, the writers have agreed to attend and write for the SAG Awards. Maybe people will actually watch them this year.