Aaron Keith Harris
2007-12-28 08:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

The Writers Guild of America strike is in its eighth week, and I’m starting to get anxious. I’m already craving new episodes of “The Office,” and if “House” doesn’t return soon, I’m afraid I’ll have nothing to distract myself from behaving like the acerbic title character.

And I’ve read promising reports that the producers of “24” have pulled that once-great show back from the abyss of abject ridiculousness and have several episodes in the can. But we won’t be able to see them until the strike is settled, so the shows will run every week without a break.

Even worse, there were so precious few decent movies at the box office in 2007, and the strike means there will likely be even fewer next year.

The good news is that the strike will not affect “Saturday Night Live,” which has apparently not employed a single writer since Tina Fey left to make the priceless “30 Rock” a couple of years ago.

In addition to pay raises, DVD residuals and compensation for content shown on the Internet and other new media, one of the issues under negotiation is whether writers of animated productions and reality shows should be considered equivalent to other writers.

In the meantime, though, most reality shows are not affected by the strike. So with the presidential race about to get really interesting, why not combine the two?

Fred Thompson has clocked plenty of time on both the small and big screens, and both Rudy Giuliani and John McCain have hosted “Saturday Night Live.” With Oprah Winfrey backing him, Barack Obama has perhaps more help from television than anyone.

But the rest could use some extra air time, and we might prompt to the polls some TV viewers whom Oprah hasn’t yet reached.

Mike Huckabee could televangelize. Preening dandies Mitt Romney and John Edwards could go on VH1’s “America’s Most Smartest Model.”

Since “The Amazing Race” depends on interesting two-person teams, let’s send New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson with illegal immigration opponent Rep. Duncan Hunter on a trip from San Diego to Miami. Or send socialist peacenik Dennis Kucinich and libertarian peacenik Ron Paul through Baghdad, Riyadh and Tel Aviv.

Hillary Clinton, of course, should have her own version of “Supernanny.”

Most of the regular contestants on reality shows are wannabe actors, and presidential candidates aren’t much different, really. Win one role, then the next, then run for president. And while you’re the star in front of the camera, everywhere else you’re treated as special. People want to shake your hand or get an autograph whether they can remember why you’re famous or not.

Though the politics-as-reality-show metaphor is an apt one, the mainstream media’s coverage of politics, especially presidential campaigns, is not too much different from the scripted dramas on “CSI.”

Just like the show’s murders, the debates, issues, scandals and crises of politics happen regularly and are ingeniously plotted. Then the experts come in and point out the obvious with flashlights when so much more could be seen if someone bothered to flick the light switch. Then they show us what happened and tell us what to think about it. Only it’s Anderson Cooper and not William Petersen who zings the moral of the story home with an arched eyebrow.

While American television is in limbo, check out the series finale of Ricky Gervais’ “Extras,” the BBC comedy by the creator of “The Office” that also aired on HBO earlier this month. In one short outburst, Gervais’ character sums up perfectly everything that’s wrong with celebrity culture, and it’s probably the funniest 84 minutes of TV you’ll see this year.

Aaron Keith Harris writes about politics, the media, pop culture and music and is a regular contributor to National Review Online and Bluegrass Unlimited. He can be reached at aaronkeithharris@gmail.com.