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Will a Strike Stop Show Biz?

Will Malcolm in the Middle'sFrankie Muniz get new lines?

Next fall, instead of seeing brand-new episodes of your favorite TV comedies, you may be stuck watching reruns. Hollywood screenwriters are set to go on strike when their contract expires May 1. The 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America, which represents entertainment writers, plan to stop working on all projects.

Guild members want big studios to share the profits made from selling their shows and movies overseas and on the Internet, cable, video and dvd. They also want their names to be featured more prominently in movie credits.

A meeting to find a compromise between studio executives and writers was set for May 2. "A strike is unavoidable," says Elaine Devlin, an agent for screenwriters.

Movies, which are written far in advance, would still be released during the next year. But a strike would slow down production of TV shows.

A strike would cost Hollywood as much as $2 billion a week in lost profits! Studios are afraid actors might also go on strike in June, when their contract expires. Like writers, they want a bigger share of the profits.

TV producers predict that a strike would lead to more reality-based shows like Survivor, which don’t require writers or actors.

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