Essential Estrogen

Have I ever wrote about how much I truly dislike reality television?

Of the roughly 5,500 members of the Writers Guild of America members who voted this weekend, 90 percent said they approved an authorization to strike if a deal cannot be reached with employers by Halloween. The union has roughly 12,000 members total and Guild officials told the Los Angeles Times that the referendum had record turnout.

The Guild has not authorized such an action since 1988, when a nearly six-month strike cost the entertainment industry half a billion dollars -- and, most importantly, first bridged the way for network television to start offering reality television shows that require no writers.

The disputes have formed over the writers' lack of compensation from DVD sales. Obviously, the writers feel they should be compensated while executives are not so inclined.

For their part, network executives have been preparing for a strike for months and say they will be ready should a walkout happen. They've ordered an unusual number of pilots for next year and have lined up a plethora of reality TV shows, sports programs and shows culled from their libraries to fill the airwaves during a strike.

Oh well, come All Saints Day at least we should have a better of idea of exactly if and when the boob-tubes should be tossed out the nearest window. In the interim we can all ponder the fact that Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore is gay.