12,000 WGA members were invited to the Los Angeles Convention Center Thursday night to convene with regard to whether they were going to strike or not against Hollywood studios and producers. The WGA contracts expired at midnight on Wednesday, October 31st.

Contrary to my advice in an earlier BOPsy column, the 3,000 writers who showed up have decided to take the advice of the WGA Negotiation Committee and move towards a strike against the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.) This of course will affect EVERYTHING including whether the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA) also move towards a strike as their respective contracts are also soon expired.

The AMPTP’s reaction was characterized by their preparedness to absorb a strike, President Nick Counter said:

“By the WGA leadership’s actions at the bargaining table, we are not surprised by tonight’s recommendation,” Counter said. “We are ready to meet and are prepared to close this contract this weekend.”

Writers on the other hand are of course worried. Especially working writers. In a CNN article, writer David Garrett was quoted as saying:

“There was a unified feeling in the room. I don’t think anyone wants the strike, but people are behind the negotiation committee,”

Shows that will feel the impact of this strike first will most likely be “The Stephen Colbert Report,” “The Daily Show,” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

So look for re-runs and lots of reality television shows. Especially reality TV shows that were taken off the air after an unsucessful first few episodes as well as anything else that studios and networks have up their sleeves.

Perhaps TV legend/writer/producer Normal Lear sums it up best in the NY Times:

“I’m afraid that everybody’s in for a terrible time”

and when he says “everybody” I think he’s also referring to the American consumer….