The Morning After: Theory Reconfirmed

I watched Chuck. To me Chuck has become the show I hate but watch anyway. Part of my annoyance at this show relates to what you were saying about Big Bang. If the producers actually tried to make the characters legitimate nerds it would be funnier (think of the inside jokes) than these lame superficial nerd characters who mainly show they are geeks by dropping in some words like "Halo" every now and again.

I think the writers are 100% right. The big studios either complete slimballs or they have made a horrible job of making their case. It really wouldn't affect me except I'm a night owl and I usually watch all of NBC's late night fare but now with the reruns I'm screwed.

I'm one of the useful nerds (as described SomethingPositive) and I watched exactly 25% of one episode of Big Bang. I'm completely unconvinced by the writing and acting that these guys are nerds. Nerds don't act that way...

They could at least listen to MC Chris and watch ATHF (Cartoon Network is owned by Viacom...I think).

I actually think that it's the showrunners (that are also writers) that are probably the biggest villains here (besides the agents). For the most part, broadcast television is a relatively low margin business (meaning that there's not a ton of extra money lying around). While the rank-and-file writers are not fantastically well compensated (and get so little of the DVD/new media residual pie), the big-time writers who become show runners make a ton of money (including on all sorts of individually negotiated residuals) and they make it while wearing their producer hat rather than their writer hat (which means that no piece of it goes into the WGA coffers or pension fund).

If the studios could somehow find a way to cut back on the showrunner/producer compensation, there'd be a ton of money freed up for the writers. However, giving in to the WGA (and then, in a domino, to the DGA, SAG and, possibly, AFTRA) while having things with the showrunners at status quo will stretch the studios pretty thin.

That being said, I think there is no question that the writers "deserve" in some moral sense a portion of the new media residuals, but it's not clear to me whether their ask is too high or whether receiving it (and the costs of the strike) will do more harm than good for the average writer.

Given the low margin nature of the studios' business, a forced increase in minimum residuals combined with the difficulty in predicting future income streams on new shows, will almost certainly drive down the salary amount that rank-and-file writers are paid (not below the WGA floor, of course, but the floor is very low) while the elite writers will continue to be able to leverage their position to continue to receive higher amounts. And the actual residuals received for most shows won't make up the difference.

I am generally pro union, and I understand the appeal of the WGA's position here, I'm just not sure that the strike will help the average writer (who, it's worth adding, will lose a much higher percentage of their income from this strike than the elite writers and will be less likely to have the financial cushion to take the hit).

Anyway, sorry for the rambling and the sort of apologia for the studios' position.

JH: I have the same love/hate relationship with Chuck.

Chuck is much more believable as a spy than he is as a nerd.

I'm starting to wonder if Morgan uses Chuck to eat free food and gawk at his sister. Otherwise, I'm sure that Morgan would have much more fun people to hang with. One example: Morgan calls Chuck to get Harry's universal remote code. Chuck is flustered and upset (sure, people are trying to kill him, but still...). Couldn't Chuck be at least a bit amused?

It's not a TV show, but I just watched The 40 Year Old Virgin again last weekend, and you should see how Seth Rogen holds the controller. I find it hard to believe that the actors in these shows don't know how to play video games or even hold a controller... is the director telling them to be more expressive to really get the point across that they are playing video games to an audience that might not understand?

I like the Big Bang Theory. Although I think the nerd characters are a little over the top, I think they're supposed to be that way, you know? It's not a realistic portrayal of life as a nerd. Think about it, in the last three episodes, three of the four have hooked up with a lady-friend or random stranger. How realistic is that?? (i apologize to all the debonair nerds out there) The show makes me laugh sufficiently.

As for the playing video games, I think the same could be said for characters driving a car or any other attention-intensive activity. (although, I'll say that over the years, characters driving are becoming more realistic. But if you look at scenes from the '90s, it's pretty bad). Basically, if you're doing something that requires your full attention (like actually playing the video game), your head kinda gets lost in it and you probably won't be remembering your lines or whatever. Or, ironically, the actors might actually forget that they're supposed to ignore Penny and actually stop playing when they hear an outside stimulus. Acting requires some level of focus, and actually playing a video game while acting is super-hard multi-tasking kinda like text-messaging while driving a car. (something I hear is dangerously becoming popular with teens).

I don't think most people realize what they look like when playing video games. You get this kind of zombified, unblinking look of intense concentration, punctuated by brief moments of "hell yeah!" and thrusting your fist into the air when you pull off a good kill. The worst part about that scene is that two are standing up, and one is practically standing up. You do not stand up while playing video games, even for a minute. Holding your arms out like that gets tiring really fast, you need to brace them on something, usually your legs. Truth is, watching other people play video games is not that entertaining, so I can see how they would have a problem making a comical situation out of a realistic portrayal. But that just highlights how the writing on the show is pretty mundane.

COREY SAID: "I'm one of the useful nerds (as described SomethingPositive) and I watched exactly 25% of one episode of Big Bang. I'm completely unconvinced by the writing and acting that these guys are nerds. Nerds don't act that way..."

That's because no one really wants to actually watch nerds...real nerds aren't nearly as funny. They want to watch nerd stereotypes.

Mike "That's because no one really wants to actually watch nerds...real nerds aren't nearly as funny. They want to watch nerd stereotypes. "

The same could be said of Doctors, Lawyers, Cops, Private Investigators, Criminalists, Single New Yorkers, etc...

Mike "That's because no one really wants to actually watch nerds...real nerds aren't nearly as funny. They want to watch nerd stereotypes. "

The same could be said of Doctors, Lawyers, Cops, Private Investigators, Criminalists, Single New Yorkers, etc...

These are both so true. The show is funny therefore it is sucessful end of story.