Writers strike, poop joke shortage feared

At midnight, the Writer's Guild of America walked off the job, leaving the television and entertainment industry without anyone to craft the jokes and dramatic dialog we depend on to fill our otherwise empty lives. No more poop deck gags for Fox's (NYSE: NWS) Family Guy (you really phoned that one in, gang). No more four-times-an-hour plot reversals for 24. No more lame-o quips to eviscerate the comedy of viewer-submitted video on Animal Planet.

The discord is symptomatic of the evolution in the entertainment industry, as the various contributors fight for a fair share of the spoils of internet-based and DVD revenues. These new alternatives provide the long tail for entertainment, allowing once filed-and-forgotten shows to remain available for viewing ad nauseum.

As online entertainment embraces the advertising-supported model, the archive of shows will continue to spin off revenue, and the writers want their share. Can you blame them? Sure, stars like Tom Green deserve millions for embarrassing themselves on television, but shouldn't there be a least a little sump'm sump'm for the people that create the words that drive the entertainment?

Or perhaps the Blue Man Group is all you need or want.