What was the writer's strike about anyway?

It's a regular night at my dorm. I have class tomorrow and flip on the TV before going to bed (because you know, reading is for squares).

As I change channels, it's the same story as it's been for months- rerun after rerun after rerun.

"When will the madness cease!" I wonder to myself in desperation. As soon as I think I may lose it if I have to watch that same episode of Entourage again, my prayers are answered- the Writer's Strike is over!

But I was still left wondering, what was all that craziness about anyway?

So I do some online research, and find out the facts behind this 14-week event that ended up costing the city of Los Angeles an estimated 1.5 billion dollars.

The companies that went on strike were the Writers Guild of America, both east and west divisions.

These unions represent writers who work in film, television, and radio all across the country, about 12,000 members total, according to nytimes.com.

The corporations renegotiate their writer's contracts every three years, and the strike occurred after several months of writers trying to negotiate to receive more payment from the sales of television shows and movies being released on DVD, as well as more compensation for shows now also being broadcast over the Internet.

The corporation they are seeking this pay increase from is the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents companies like CBS, NBC, Warner Brothers, and the Walt Disney Company.

The AMPTP is arguing that the extra revenue they receive from these outlets must go towards various rising costs.

The last major writer's strike was in 1988, due to reduced compensation for hour-long shows as well as shows broadcast in foreign countries.

The 1988 strike lasted a few weeks less but indirectly resulted in two shows going off the air.

The way I see it is, where would shows and movies be without writers?

Aren't they more or less the most essential element to the success of these productions?

I don't just watch Conan O'Brien just because I love his hair and the way he does that strings-attached-to-his-hips-thing,

I love his humorous satire of current events. I don't go to the movies because that Scientologist-crazed actor playing the main character is so attractive.

I go because I want him to say stuff that will entertain me. And, as much as Zach Braff wants to think he's the driving force of Scrubs (I knew about the Shins before Garden State, thanks though), I love Dr. Cox's sharp wit and self-deprecation.

Really, if the dialogue they write is being shown on television as well as the Internet, shouldn't they be compensated for both?

Doesn't that make sense?! It certainly does to me.

However, I'm sure the losses that Los Angeles experienced are merely pocket change for huge conglomerates like Walt Disney and Sony who own everything from big name businesses to pseudo-"indie" companies that funded movies like this year's Juno (Fox Searchlight).

So why were they whining so much? Why couldn't they just give the writer's what they deserved in the first place?

The more communications classes I take, the more I see how these huge corporations go around acting like they rule the world.

But the scary thing is, the more I learn about how they operate and everything that they own, I'm starting to think that they actually kind of do.