Adjunct communication professor Jonathan Taplin wrote in a Feb. 10 New York Post column that the writer's strike was more a television than movie strike, and most sides of the battle ended up worse off than before.
"The biggest loser, however, may be Hollywood itself," Taplin wrote. "While the writers and studios bickered, many audience members found something better to do, be it online or outside. Both sides will have to work hard to get them back."
He said the Writer's Guild leaders didn't account for important pieces of luck for the networks: Fox was in preparation for the seventh season of American Idol; NBC's new president, reality king Ben Silverman, was ready to roll out new reality programs; and ABC's hit show "Lost" was behind in production.
"Many of the Writer's Guild leaders, comforted by the Emmys on their mantles for award-winning dramas, were convinced that a TV season without "Grey's Anatomy" or "Heroes" would be a financial disaster for the studios and that officials would cave quickly," he wrote.
