Installment #1

By Greg Garcia, Creator and Executive Producer of My Name Is Earl.

I hate writing. I hate it. Sitting down to write a script is torture. In fact, the only good thing that's come out of this strike is that it's given me an actual legitimate excuse not to write. Usually I have to spend most of my mornings trying to come up with reasons to be lazy. But these days, I simply wake up and my guild has decided that I am not permitted to put pen to paper. Not permitted to sit and stare at a blank page and feel like a failure for hours on end. Not permitted to type scene after scene only to read it at the end of the day, hate it, and throw it out. And for that, I'm grateful to the AMPTP and the WGA. However, I'm bored out of my mind.  Because as much as I hate writing TV, I love watching it. Writing TV is hard, but watching it... Watching it is a breeze. All you need are eyes and an ass. When I sit down to watch an episode of one of my favorite shows it's like Christmas morning. I get excited. What have they come up with for me this week? I can't wait. And when it's over I quickly shut off the TV before I can see the promo for next week's episode because I don't want to ruin a single second of it. I don't have to watch the promo. I'll be there. I'm hooked.

The first few days of the strike were great for catching up on my shows. My TIVO was bubbling over with new episodes of Dexter, Family Guy, Friday Night Lights, 30 Rock, and a whole bunch of other shows I'm not going to admit to watching. One by one they were watched and deleted. And now my TIVO is empty. I fear that as the strike goes on my TIVO may try to eat itself to stay alive. Nothing is more depressing than going through the guide for the next few weeks and seeing shows like American Gladiators, Clash of the Choirs, Duel, and Celebrity Apprentice. I'm not gonna watch that foolishness. And I'll watch almost anything. I always have. While other kids were out playing tag, tossing around the ball, and getting laid, I was glued to the TV. I liked it all, ... Read More »