Fresh out of ideas: Conan, with recent guest Tracey Morgan, does “baffled.” Inset: Joss Whedon
TV
By Joshua Ostroff
Writer's block
When TV goes on strike, so-called reality sets in
They may not be as famous as their onscreen counterparts, but 12,000 writers have just put Hollywood in lockdown.
The Writer's Guild of America's first walkout since 1988's five-month strike revolves around residual payments for DVDs and online downloads. But the impact of their dropped pens will vary. Late-night shows like Conan and Colbert shuttered immediately, while most comedies and dramas have about six episodes banked and are mostly in reruns next month anyway.
“[But] if the strike goes past December, that's going to add fuel to the reality fire,” predicts Jennifer Warren, editor-in-chief of Show, Bell Express Vu's 800,000-circulation subscriber mag. “There will be lots more Kid Nations – maybe this time with sad clowns in little cars.”
In fact, replacement reality series like Farmer Wants a Wife and a mother/daughter beauty pageant are already on deck. So: could the absence of scripted series on US TV convince Canadians to watch domestic programming?
“People who are watching Corner Gas will keep watching [but] I don't think it will necessarily pick up new viewers,” Warren says. “Maybe if people get hungry enough for new TV they'll be forced to pay attention to some great Canadian series. But I sort of doubt it.”
Other options include US cable series and seasons that haven't aired here yet – Damages, The Riches, Nip/Tuck and The Wire – and TV-on-DVD box sets.
“They're certainly not going to cancel anything right now, which is a stay-of-execution for some series,” says Warren. “Maybe the strike will allow everybody to sit back and take a look at what they've done so far in terms of plot arc as opposed to running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
“On the other hand, it might kill plot momentum, character development and audience loyalty.”
No Joss-tice, no peace
It's not all mud puddles and dead unicorns yet: cult hero Joss Whedon is returning to the small screen!
Once upon a time, Whedon had three wonderful shows – Buffy, Angel and Firefly – but, frustrated by their premature deaths, he headed off to the movie leagues. Alas, things didn't improve much. Serenity, his awesome big-screen spinoff of Firefly, was certainly no blockbuster. He was passed over as X-Men 3 director (a movie that nonetheless plagiarized his Astonishing X-Men comic arc and his Buffy season six finale) and was booted off the gestating Wonder Woman flick.
He's kept busy with best-selling comics, including a canonical Buffy Season 8, wherein the government views the vampire slayer as a terrorist leader. Later this month, he'll debut a 12-issue Angel comic resolving that show's series-ending cliffhanger. Plus, Buffy's musical episode “Once More With Feeling” spent the year touring sold-out movie theatres like a latter-day Rocky Horror, until last month, when the studio kiboshed the sing-along screenings (the roadblock was – yup – residual payments).
Now Whedon's been dipping his toe back in the TV pool. He directed a couple episodes of The Office, including last week's, and confirmed the long-awaited BBC telefilm Ripper, starring Buffy's librarian demon-hunter Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head).
But his true return will be Dollhouse, a serial “suspense drama” starring Eliza Dushku (Faith, the other vampire slayer) as Echo. Another female-fronted genre show with socio-political subtext – “It deals with all the things I like to deal with: strength, weakness, power and corruption,” Whedon told TV Week – Dollhouse revolves around secret agents essentially enslaved by a mysterious organization, hence the title. They're “imprinted” with different personalities, memories and abilities for each mission and then mind-wiped upon return.
Fox made a seven-episode commitment in hopes Dollhouse would be ready to play by spring but that, of course, depends on when Whedon will be allowed off the picket line to write them.
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