All the channel-flipping in the world doesn’t help when there’s nothing new to watch on TV. Despite an attempt by both parties to negotiate new contract terms, the writers and producers have again failed to reach agreement.

The new talks lasted a little over a week, but the situation isn’t at all improved. Neither side is willing to give in to the other, which doesn’t bode well for future TV-watching. There are over ten thousand writers on the picket lines, but they only represent part of the story. Many other workers in the industry remain without pay as the writers hold their signs, which puts a real damper on any sort of holiday cheer for these laborers. More than fifty shows have already been completely shut down by the strike, and there’s no end in sight.

FOX has already suffered programming gaps which pushed new reality shows to the forefront; if the strike continues to drag the entire 2008 season could be in jeopardy.