Grammy Awards and the WGA Strike

grammy.jpgThe Writers Guild strike is nearly over. A vote is scheduled for Tuesday and it appears that they will be picking up their pencils later this week. Too bad for the producers of the 50th annual Grammy Awards who, although they had brokered a deal to allow the show to proceed, clearly didn’t have the full force of the creative community at their disposal. The music industry is in trouble, and this “celebration” of talent is a sad acknowledgment of that reality. The only thing that may help the ratings this year is that the awards show didn’t have to compete against a new episode of Desperate Housewives!

Ratings Update: The Grammy Awards pulled a 6.9 rating from the 18-49 demo, sharply down from last year and one of the poorest showings ever. Adding insult to injury, the audience was not much larger than that for ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

High/Low-lights:

  • A Jazz album won Record of the Year once again…only 43 years since the first and only time that has happened.
  • Watching Amy Winehouse is like watching an accident…you can’t help but look.
  • Brad Paisley sang a song about ticks…and I mean the blood-sucking kind.
  • The best line of the night was unscripted…Vince Gill poking at Kanye.
  • And oh yeah, Barak Obama beat out Bill Clinton for the “Best Spoken Word Album” award!

See all the winners at the Grammy website.

5 Replies to “Grammy Awards and the WGA Strike”

  1. I really thought long and hard about this subject. let me say while the strike was in action i for certainly didnt agree with it because i was missing out on my favortie shows,and i was also really tired of watching re-runs. now that the strike is over and i know a little more on the subject i cant fault the writers because those people work entirely to hard to get the wages they were receiving. i soley put that blame on the comapny’s who they were working for because they should have gave in earlier and maybe it could have saved alot of emotions and negativity around the nation. The Grammys is another thing that you cannot blame on the writers because the companies knew that they needed the writers back to make this a great show but instead they only produce a 6.9 rating, which i believe is horrible for such tradional program.

  2. The Grammys are a huge event for the media and many people who like to watch it. when the strike was going on i think it was well worth it. people put alot of time into the grammy’s and feel they should get more money and thats reasonable.I feel that they had every right to do what they wanted to. i mean everyone cant always sit back and let things be, sometimes people need to step up for what they feel. Also i feel that the grammys need to step things up, they are not like they use to be, they are focused on the wrong things.

  3. The Grammys are a huge event for the media and many adults who are into award shows. The strike that was going on was worth wild. I mean these people do put a lot of effort into this and wanting a pay raise. I feel that they had every right to do what they wanted to do. I mean sometimes we need to take action into what we feel is necessary. As for the ratings I figured they would have went down due to the other shows that was on at this time. For example Extreme Make over show. This reality show was a hit at this time while the Grammy’s was on. If I recall I think that the episode was taped in Hawaii. I was watching too over the Grammys. In all honesty I think it’s been getting boring lately that why many people prefer reality TV over the Grammy’s. The Grammy’s are not what they use to be like, they use to be about the awards but now they are about what they people are wearing and what people are showing up.

  4. Thomas, did you even know what was going on with the strike? You wouldnt be saying they were selfish for demanding a pay raise if you did. Their work was being ripped off and posted on the internet with out them getting compensation for it. The writers not getting paid for their work being put on the internet is like if an actor didnt get a portion of the profits their movie made. Its the same thing. They just wanted to be paid for the work that they did.

  5. I’m really sick of the wrighters strike and the distructive wave it’s reaking on many music and television shows. All of this because they weren’t paid enough. Thanks to them many people are out of jobs because they were going to work as actors and what not for tv shows without wrighters. They are selfish people and should be hired back at severely reduced pay just to mend the wounds they caused.

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