In all the recent articles ...
Question: In all the recent articles I've read about the current Writers Guild strike, most of the discussions seem to revolve around the fact that, if the strike continues for a prolonged time, reruns and reality shows will be what the networks will fall back on in prime time once all the existing scripts are used up and produced. I have trouble understanding why the networks don't show movies instead of reruns or reality shows (which I can't stand, but I realize are somewhat popular). Several years ago, almost every night the prime-time slots had a movie scheduled on one major network or another. With the possibility of a protracted strike and of reruns probably coming in January or February, and for who knows how long, and then more reruns next summer, wouldn't you think that the viewers would be fed up with reruns and long for something different? There must be a huge library of movies, and not necessarily the top box-office draws, either, that many viewers would prefer to watch. What's your take on why the networks have made no mention of showing nightly movies?
Answer: Simple answer: I can't remember the last time I chose to watch a theatrical movie on network TV, chopped up, purified (i.e., censored) and interrupted with commercials. This is why there are so few "movie nights" on the networks any longer. We have DVDs at the ready, in our own collections or through Netflix, we have an explosion of digital movie channels, including On Demand, and it's a rare title that can still attract a big audience when it makes its network premiere. Sadly, the made-for-TV movie pipeline has mostly dried up as well (with rare exceptions, like ABC's movie version of Mitch Albom's
For One More Day in December and the all-star
Raisin in the Sun remake airing the night after the Oscars in February). It's entirely possible, should the strike go on long enough and big holes open up in the schedule, that some networks will turn to theatrical movie "events" as stunts. But don't count on a return to competing "movies of the week." Those days are over.
