Lab Meeting

Because a lot of time and effort seems to get spent on things that do not matter.

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Battlestar Finale Rewritten, Depressing

The best thing about the recent WGA strike? It gave Battlestar Galactica writers the chance to rethink and rewrite the entire second half of their final season, according to showrunner Ron Moore, saving us from episodes with titles called "Oh Jesus, Can I Have Five More Minutes? No? Okay, Then, This Time Around Starbuck Is A Cylon, Whatever."

Speaking at a press conference, Moore explained the seeming change of direction:

The writers had worked out what the arc in the back half [of the fourth season] was already... I think [the strike] actually benefited the show in some ways in that... we started to think about things that we could change, things we could make better. And when the strike was over... we wrote the second half of the season all over again.

And as to how the season will end now? Edward James Olmos isn't optimistic:

It's devastating... don't watch this program; it's not an easy ride.

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NBC President Mocks Writers, Strike In Upcoming "My Name Is Earl" Commercial

Jeff Zucker, President and CEO of NBC Universal, will appear in a commercial to run before the April 3 return of NBC's "My Name is Earl." In the commercial, Zucker appears to mock both the writers and the strike that sidelined Hollywood for months.

"We put together a little recap to get everybody back to speed," Zucker says. "It's right here on NBC.com, where you can watch all of your favorite shows, preferably within the first 17 days." A key point of contention in the writers' strike was that the writers received no residuals for any content downloaded online — and the strike agreement now provides a 17-day window during which studios can stream content without paying the writers royalties. Zucker also references online advertising, another centerpiece of the strike.

Zucker also took a non-strike-related dig at the writers, saying, "Earl gets hit by a car, just like he did in the pilot episode. Writers refer to that as a 'callback.' I call it getting paid twice for writing the same thing."

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