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and Tubbs till the strike is over.")

So spare me the doomsday messages about this latest strike. The shuttle astronauts looked out the window last week from the International Space Station and confirmed that earth still appeared to be in its proper orbit. Yes, people will miss seeing new episodes of their favorite TV shows, but don't preach to us television lemmings that it will alter the way we live.

It's all about the money and the advertising dollars. Yes, writers, actors, directors and television crews will lose money. The main issue in this strike is the residuals that writers get paid for DVD sales, currently about 4 cents per sale. Writers want a better slice of that pie, plus the other flavors that have come along, like internet downloads and future media outlets.

While I can understand writers wanting to get paid for writing, they're not exactly working in sweat shop conditions or getting paid sweat shop wages. They have a union, they have a contract, and they're getting paid. I would also argue that seeing your name in the credits is also a nice reward, unless you currently write for "According to Jim".

The writers want residuals? So does everyone else. How about giving a teacher a residual every time a former student lands a job and starts paying taxes? How about a residual for every coal miner every time someone turns on a light [or television] (power plants burn coal to generate electricity)? Teachers and coal miners have unions, too, yet when they strike the impact is a tad more significant, wouldn't you say?

Just a wild guess here, but I would bet that teachers and coal miners make less than Hollywood writers and have tougher professions. What's the biggest risk a writer faces, a nasty paper cut?

Look, if you want to strike, go ahead, that's what unions are for, and red-blooded Americans everywhere will back you. Just don't for a Super Bowl advertising second delude yourselves that we care or that it will somehow put our country "in peril". Health officials have predicted that a season of reruns could lead to lengthy conversations with the risk of meaningful dialogue among family members.

Yes, my family adores those 27 inches of love in the corner of the family room, but we have the upper hand in this strike. We just came back from Wal-Mart with Season 1 of "The Simpsons".

Learn more about this author, Bob Rehak.
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