I like this, from UH:

Whenever the issue of residuals comes up, some on the other side of the bargaining table like to start talking toilets. Specifically, they just love to trot out a quip allegedy made by the late studio mogul Lew Wasserman which goes something like this: "I don't pay the plumber everytime I flush my toilet."

Nice try.

But if the plumber had set it up so Mr. Wasserman's toilet spit out a thousand bucks everytime he flushed, you can bet your ass that plumber would have been beating down the door looking for his cut.

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I was both bummed and relieved when I got called, but never got picked for jury duty. Relieved because S was still really sick at the time, but bummed because I believe in the ideals of our country, and would love to fulfill my civic duties beyond just voting.

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HA! That's perfect, DJ.

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I've a question. Why would the studios prefer a strike now, than during the summer?

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Because it pisses off both the audience and the advertisers - more.

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I've never sat on a jury. I was only called once, and the first day, I got released at 11. The second day, we lined up for voir dire, and before we even got into the courtroom, the defendant copped a plea.

I expect that I will get called more often since I now live in DC.

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IME lawyers are suspicious of jurors like that, though I couldn't tell you why.

Oh, I don't think she said anything during voir dire. During a break on the 2nd or 3rd day she said something like, "I know I'm a dork, but I was so happy I got picked!"

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Because it pisses off both the audience and the advertisers - more.

Advertisers are the producers' customers. The audience is their product. (The shows are bait.) So they are lowering their revenues more than a summer strike would for public relations purposes? I suspect there is more to than that. Maybe they think reality shows, news, sports and so on will lower costs more than the diminished audience lowers revenues. So the idea is that they will eliminate scripted shows for cheaper, unscripted ones? Not sure that is really a smart long term strategy, but maybe..

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Maybe it gives them the excuse to cheap out and go reality all winter. Where otherwise they'd have to pay for the more expensive, quality scripted shows. And since all the networks are in the same boat, they're only competing against reality tv on other stations too, and nobody has to one-up the other on the more expensive scripted shows.

Advertisers have nowhere else to go, so they pay mucho dinero to fund the cheap, cheap shows.

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I've been called and rejected twice, but third time may be the (dubious) charm. I have jury duty starting the week of Dec 3rd, and NoiseDesign has it the week after.

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