Bad For Grey's, Good For Kids!

All right, it's almost a foregone conclusion that a guy who works in mass media would blog about the writers/producers/best boy/best girl/grip/assistant to Mr. Pitt strike in Hollywood...so let's get it out of the way now.

Those poor bastards who actually write a lot of the funny or touching content we know and love on such critically-acclaimed shows like Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Ghost Whisperer (better watched with the volume OFF) and others...are pretty much getting screwed. Somehow, the big Hollywood execs decided the writers would NOT receive a substantial cut of DVD and internet profits based on the shows they help create on a weekly basis. And with more TV shows being released season after season on DVD or on iTunes, that's a lot of change they're missing out on.

Now, don't get me wrong...those writers have families to support, homes to pay for, yada yada. But many of them make more in one to five years than I will ever see in this lifetime. Still, what puts THEIR families in California's version of poverty (read: Schwarzenegger votes you off the "island" of America and sends you down to Mexico, where you're forced to drink the "water") is actually good for YOUR family.

Children of this generation are slowly working their way from Generation "X" and "Y" to Generation "Duh." Parents are working twice as hard to make ends meet, many times bringing their work home with them and telling the kiddos to plant their collective rears in front of the TV, zone out and stop annoying Mommy and Daddy. But you know what, folks? No writers means no new episodes. No new episodes means..*gasp*..RERUNS! In December! And twenty more "reality" shows, including one ungodly idea from overseas (I forget which direction) that Fox (of course) picked up where contestants can win "big cash money" just by sitting in a chair attached to a lie detector...and telling that formerly drunken, now rehabbing father that, no, they don't forgive them for slapping Mommy around and leaving the family on Christmas Eve. And yes, they DO wish Daddy was dead. How's THAT for family values? What, I couldn't just get "truth or dare" questions like "Who would you rather make out with, your hot cousin, or your hot sister-in-law?" And don't even get me STARTED on "The Hills."

So, parents and their children could finally be forced to..*gasp again*..turn off the TV! Whatever will they do? Talk? About drugs and violence at school? About pre-marital sex and how to protect themselves against STDs? About why taking another person's life at a shopping mall or a missionary training center, no matter how much you think they deserve to die, is wrong?

And here's another way families will be able to bond: the resurgence of board games. YES! The classics come back! Clue, Sorry!, Monopoly (okay, maybe not this one...my sister used to always end up scoring major "loans" from the bank), Scrabble...fun times spent with parents can create positive memories for children in the future, almost enough to compensate for that one night when Mommy got drunk and accused Daddy of "fornicating" (whatever that means) with the office secretary. Too bad Grandma had to see THAT one.

Besides the family bonding benefit, here's a HEALTH benefit: the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center recently conducted a study that showed doing crossword puzzles and playing board games can stave off symptoms of dementia. (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1311109) And honestly, there are some VIDEO GAME versions of BOARD GAMES, thereby killing your children's eyes, but still offering the same anti-dementia benefit as regular board games.

So, yes, I will be distraught as I wait anxiously for new episodes of Chuck or Heroes or The Daily Show. But I'll feel better knowing that my illegitimate son will show up at my door, asking questions about why I did what I did to his Mommy...and I'll bust out Parcheesi and we'll have fun for hours.

-B-