DEAR DIARY: TODAY I MET A SCENARIO, ITS NAME WAS "WORST CASE". AND I WAS ASCARED...

The six people who actually read this blog have realized by now that it's nothing more than a grocery list of my fears. I am a man torn between right and write. Nikki Fink's column a few days ago brought to light what many (if not all) writers feared. She wrote: I have learned: that the CEOs are deeply entrenched in their desire to punish the WGA for daring to defy them by striking and to bully the writers into submission on every issue, and that the moguls consider the writers are sadly misguided to believe they have any leverage left. I'm told the CEOs are determined to write off not just the rest of this TV season (including the Back 9 of scripted series), but also pilot season and the 2008/2009 schedule as well. Indeed, network orders for reality TV shows are pouring into the agencies right now. The studios and networks also are intent on changing the way they do TV development so they can stop spending hundreds of millions of dollars in order to see just a few new shows succeed. As for advertising, the CEOs seem determined to do away with the upfront business and instead make their money from the scatter market. Spin or not, it is still a likely and viable scenario. One that will rock the union to its core. All the fucking solidarity in the world does not pay mortgages or school tuitions. Yes, eventually producers will need content and eventually we will have to go back to work. However, we are all painfully aware that the writer's "eventually" has a much shorter lifespan than Big Media's. What happens if there is no settlement by March or June or August or December 2008? Clearly, I have no solution, only angst. I have no educated guess, only terrifying speculations. I am trying to trust that from these unfortunate circumstances there is a higher solution. That regardless of the result, the process will bring enlightenment. I have no doubt that when the dust settles and the keyboards are once again clacking, there will be lessons learned. Hard lessons.