Staff Editorial

Let’s all give a big hand to those in both the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers—honestly.

With the official votes to the end the writers’ strike counted last Tuesday after 100 days of picketing, we begin a new process of violent curiosity as the two groups negotiate, giving us what we can at least hope is a return to normalcy in the gleaming flashbulbs of the entertainment world.

To those of us selfish enough to care about our TV work-escape schedule, this means that most shows can receive a glorious few new episodes before the beginning of the summer. It means we can bask in our celebrity-induced haze of Oscar madness as programming will air as planned. It means a return to major studio productions only interrupted in filming by…well, only things not strike-related.

But beyond all the whiny “How am I supposed to live without Grey’s?” quips, this means that thousands of hair and makeup designers, builders, cameramen and miscellaneous employees of studios can return to work—employees that didn’t even march but still found themselves so affected by the strike that they lost their jobs. This means that writers will hopefully get their dues in revenue from new media like the latest episodes of “Desperate Housewives” streaming online or that Tivo’d episode of “Dexter” you forgot to catch.

Whether you agree with writers getting revenue from the (alleged) barely-scripted reality shows or whether or not the WGA gets screwed from an already-scarce cut of DVD sales in an entertainment age fueled largely by Internet views, to dispute the end of this particular strike is everything up to evil.

Thousands can reclaim their jobs, hopefully encouraging a better understanding between the two disputing groups—and hey—we can all tune in to Conan without his production-stalling Zip Line maneuver, albeit entertaining while it lasted.

Though we won’t know about the exact resolutions and negotiations until the end of the month, at least we’ve got some hope. We’ve got some hope and we’ve got some primetime enjoyment to pacify our consumer, distraction-lovin’ needs.