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#WGAStrong: Why Readers Should Care About the Writers Strike

#WGAStrong: Why Readers Should Care About the Writers Strike

By Susie Dumond Aug 8, 2023

On Thursday, short of a surprising announcement, the Writers Guild of America’s strike will reach its 100th day. That’s over three months that screenwriters have spent picketing the major studios for fair pay, improved working conditions, regulations on use of artificial intelligence (AI), and more.

The writer’s strike, combined with the SAG-AFTRA actors strike, has brought the vast majority of TV and film projects to a halt. “Who cares?” I hear some of you curmudgeonly readers saying. “I don’t need TV and movies. I’ve got books.” Actually, there’s more at stake in this strike than when fall TV shows will return. Below is a guide to the strike for book lovers, including why it might impact publishing and authors, and information on how to support the striking writers.

The Basics of the WGA Strike

After weeks of unfruitful negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on the Minimum Basic Agreement for writers, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) declared a strike on May 2, 2023. WGA members and non-members are instructed to cease any and all writing projects with member studios of the AMPTP, including powerhouse producers like Sony, Universal, Paramount, Disney, and Warner Bros., as well as any other studios that participate in the Minimum Basic Agreement.

As the strike approaches the 100-day mark, no clear progress has been made on finding agreeable terms. Representatives of the WGA negotiating committee met with AMPTP president Carol Lombardini on Friday, August 4, in a confidential sidebar to discuss resuming negotiations. Before the meeting even occurred, however, the WGA sent a message to its members about the AMPTP’s “calculated misinformation” about the meeting.

Source: https://bookriot.com/why-readers-should-care-about-the-writers-strike/

Arts & Humanities, Current Affairs, Film & Movies, Libraries, Music, Pleasures, Television

Bewitched by TV Themes | Library of Congress Blog | Library of Congress

By Mark Hartsell, January 23, 2023

The sheet music for “Jeannie,” the theme song to the hit TV show. Music Division.

Most folks know the ridiculously catchy instrumental theme song for the 1960s classic TV comedy “I Dream of Jeannie.” But how many can recite its lyrics — “Jeannie, fresh as a daisy! / Just love how she obeys me” — or even knew it had any?

The theme for “Bewitched,” another ’60s favorite, briefly had its day: Peggy Lee, among others, recorded a jazzy vocal version in 1965. The lyrics weren’t used in the series, however, and over many decades of reruns faded from public consciousness.

The original lyrics for both songs, and countless others, are preserved in Library collections as submissions to the U.S. Copyright Office, which is part of the Library. Such submissions for registration help preserve mostly forgotten stories about pop culture staples: They chronicle the creators’ original ideas and, sometimes, the subsequent histories of their works.

Source: Bewitched by TV Themes | Library of Congress Blog

Current Affairs, Film & Movies, Memories & History, Politics, Television

Jan. 6, Two Years Later: 10 Documentaries to Watch | FRONTLINE | PBS

January 6, 2023, by Patrice Taddonio

A screengrab from the FRONTLINE documentary ‘Trump’s American Carnage,’ which examined the road to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

On Jan. 6, 2021, a mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol as Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s presidential election.

How and why did the insurrection happen, and how have American politics been impacted in the two years since?

Explore the FRONTLINE documentaries collected below for context.

Editor’s Note: Read more, see link below for original item…

Source: Jan. 6, Two Years Later: 10 Documentaries to Watch | FRONTLINE

Arts & Humanities, Current Affairs, Film & Movies, Memories & History, Pleasures, Television

HBO Best Characters List, Ranked: 50th Anniversary | TVLine

By Team TVLine

Screenshot of video…

Across the past five decades, what was once a simple catchphrase has become an unassailable fact: “It’s not TV. It’s HBO. ”Home Box Office first began broadcasting as a pay-cable network 50 years ago today, and what used to be just a channel for old movies and boxing matches has grown into arguably the single greatest producer of quality programming in television history.

HBO’s original programming ambitions started out small with raunchy comedies like 1st & Ten and Dream On, but the arrival of The Larry Sanders Show in 1992 announced it as a serious player in the TV content wars. Then with the debut of The Sopranos in 1999, HBO blasted off into an era of massive success, with a tidal wave of critical acclaim (it regularly tops all networks in Emmy wins each year) and a flurry of buzzy watercooler hits from Sex and the City to Game of Thrones.

HBO’s pay-cable status allows its original series to push the established boundaries around sex, violence and subject matter, resulting in an offbeat, thought-provoking and often groundbreaking lineup of shows. And those shows have introduced us to a host of unforgettable characters over the years: heroes and villains, superstars and sidekicks, kings and court jesters.

To celebrate HBO’s 50th birthday, we’re naming the 50 greatest characters ever to appear on its original series and ranking them, based on how fascinating, complicated, and original they were. Now HBO’s exemplary output over the years did make this a truly daunting task, but we debated, we voted — and we’re happy with the results.

Read on to see how we ranked the 50 best characters HBO ever gave us — and of course, we want to hear from you, too: Hit the comments to tell us your favorite characters we left off and who you’d rank in your personal Top 5.

Editor’s Note: My Top 5:

40, 23, 14, 24, 1

Source: HBO Best Characters List, Ranked: 50th Anniversary | TVLine

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Current Affairs, Libraries, Television

C-SPAN’s Book TV: Live Festival Coverage and Tote Bags | National Book Festival | Library of Congress

September 2, 2022 by Brett Zongker

Sharon Robinson visits the stage of C-SPAN’s Book TV at the National Book Festival, August 31, 2019. Photo by Edmond Joe

Books will bring C-SPAN’s Book TV back together with us this year at the Library of Congress National Book Festival. And yes, festival friends, they will offer free tote bags once again this year to help you carry all those books at the Washington Convention Center.

After two years of virtual coverage because of the pandemic, Book TV is back for the 22nd straight year to provide live, uninterrupted coverage of the National Book Festival on Saturday, Sept. 3.

“As we celebrate this year’s National Book Festival with the theme ‘Books Bring Us Together,’ the Library of Congress’ partnership with C-SPAN’s Book TV will bring together readers across the country, allowing them to enjoy our exciting lineup of authors. We’re proud to join with C-SPAN to extend the reach of the Library of Congress National Book Festival once again so that book lovers from coast to coast can experience this celebration of reading,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.

Check out the new C-SPAN tote bags you can pick up on your way into the festival!

Source: https://blogs.loc.gov/national-book-festival/2022/09/c-spans-book-tv-live-festival-coverage-and-tote-bags/

Arts & Humanities, Current Affairs, Film & Movies, Science & Health, Television

More People Should Watch This Sci-Fi Masterpiece on Apple TV Plus – CNET

For All Mankind’s version of the space race is one of the most compelling dramas on TV.

By Erin Carson, July 7, 2022 5:40 p.m. PT

light man people space
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Watching the season 3 premiere of For All Mankind on Apple TV Plus, I didn’t touch my phone once. That never happens.

The hour-long episode, which placed several main characters at a wedding-gone-wrong aboard what was supposed to be the first space hotel, was a tense introduction to what will likely be a tense season.

The hotel is built on the idea that centrifugal force creates gravity, and when a piece of debris hits one of the thrusters, causing the rotation (and gravity) to increase, characters struggle to put one foot in front of the other.

I half expected The Doctor to show up in the Tardis because a seemingly doomed spaceship in the middle of a party is exactly the kind of place he’d be likely to turn up.

Source: More People Should Watch This Sci-Fi Masterpiece on Apple TV Plus – CNET