A discussion I saw in an Israeli site mentioned the "Moonlighting" episode of "The Taming of the Shrew" as a way that this show found to deal with the strike of '88.

It wasn't "The Taming of the Shrew" episode, it was a different one. The show came up ten minutes short, so they tacked a musical number onto the end of it:

[link]

I loved the Taming of the Shrew episode, but I was probably about 13 when it aired.

This strike is weird - I don't actually know (other than through here) any writers, but I read enough blogs and so on that it feels personal to me.

Thanks for the correction, Tom!

Now, if I could only find the original place I read it, so that I could post there your correction as well. Hmm.

it resulted in the horrid episode that everyone called Riker's Brain

Is that the horrible clip show when Riker was dying and they bombarded him with bad memories and then good memories (like every time he tried to sex up an alien)? Because that was the episode that was on when I finally got my family to watch TNG to see how good it was and should be watched.

More on topic, this morning I was listening to a morning show and the djs were making the argument that the writers aren't in a strong place because of reality shows. I'm not sure if the arguement was the networks would just throw on a bunch of reality shows during the strike, or that the networks would decide to do a way with scripted shows in favor doing unscripted.

Yep, that was one askye. At least I hope to whatever writing gods you care to name that they only had to do that once.

Well, the truth is many reality shows are actually scripted to a degree. Part of the negotiations that lead up to the strike was to bring reality tv show writers under the protection of the WGA. Not sure if that is still an issue, but I assume it is. Someone was to create the situations and challenges for reality TV shows, and suggest storylines and even create the speeches for the hosts...

I think that the reality show writers thing is one of the issues -- that and the new media stuff.

So um, writing for reality isn't really writing? Good grief.

I read an article last week which addressed median salaries and amounts averaged over 10 years and said something along the lines that under those circumstances 90% of WGA members didn't earn over $100k a year and used phrases like "equivalent to a grade school teacher" but of course, I can't find it again now.

I did however, locate these facty links along the search.

The Ins and Outs of TV Series Writer Deals which breaks down the different ways a script can be "paid for" and includes indicative pricing

and

the WGA Contract 2007 - Pattern of Demands

I read an article last week which addressed median salaries and amounts averaged over 10 years and said something along the lines that under those circumstances 90% of WGA members didn't earn over $100k a year and used phrases like "equivalent to a grade school teacher" but of course, I can't find it again now

I have to say, the "equivalent to a grade school teacher" is something that could totally piss me off out of context because (1)I am a grade school teacher (2) the implication is that the level of skill and professionalism necessary to write for TV is greater than the skill and professionalism necessary to teach (3) infers that teachers are less than writers, even though our education and professional credentialling requirements, particularly in california, rival that of other professions that require post-BA/BS work.