As the writers' strike continues, evidence of its reach and impact is more evident every day. There's always news... some of it even good.
GOOD NEWS? The Screen Actors Guild, honoring the picket line of the Writers Guild of America, has caused the cancellation of The Golden Globes as we know them. No big tables with liquored-up celebrities mingling, movie and TV stars alike, shattering the Hollywood caste system for a night of back-slapping and alcohol.
NBC, instead, will televise a live press conference Sunday night at 9 ET, announcing the winners. This presumes, and pretends, that the results of the Globes matter to anyone, or are to be taken at all seriously. Hah. The only reason to watch was to see stars partying live, so losing the Globes, for the sake of the strike, is good news. Now the Oscars, that's another matter... So stay tuned. If you can.
BAD NEWS? Tonight NBC presents fresh episodes of 30 Rock and My Name Is Earl. What's bad about that? They're the last new episodes we're going to see until the strike is over - which means, most likely, they're the last fresh laughs we'll get from these shows for nine months And that's if we're lucky.
UGLY NEWS? But never fear, folks, because just as wonderful scripted shows such as 30 Rock are packing it in for the duration of the strike, new unscripted shows are premiering to give us a taste of what to expect for the next three, six, nine months or more.
Yes, tonight at 10 ET on VH1, you can tune (you shouldn't, but you can) to a new series called Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. There's so much wrong with just the very existence of this series, especially after a weekend in which the orbits of Britney Spears and Dr. Phil collide, that to say more would be just a soul-sucking waste of energy.
But I will say this, to Brigitte Nielsen, Jeff Conaway and the other quasi-celebrity participants trying to kick drugs, alcohol or other bad behaviors on national TV. The first thing to kick? Your addiction to TV. Heal thyselves, by all means - but do so in private, for your sake as well as ours.