Is "Reality Talk" On the Horizon

Roger Simon, a member of the striking Writer's Guild, says that the next development in TV could be "reality talk" (h/t SmartChristian):

It is being widely reported that the first casualty of the new WGA strike will be the late night talk shows. The Tonight Show, etc. are headed for reruns. But Letterman, Leno, et al, better watch out. The last writers' strike helped give rise to the "reality shows" that now proliferate on television, many of them far more interesting than most fictional dramas and comedies. "Reality Talk" may be next.

It's got to be easier for someone to run a talk show without writers,. That's what we do weekly on PJM Political. We just call up some people and talk. No written scripts in sight.

We could just as well have those same people walk into a television studio and start talking. But then, of course, we'd miss all those "great written jokes."

Talk radio does this all the time. There are no writers on the Rush Limbaugh show, or any of the other major talk shows. When I do my 30 minute interview on KHND later this morning I won't have any scripted jokes or stories to tell. It's just Rick, Chuck and I talking about current events. There's really no reason why the Tonight Show or Letterman couldn't continue to talk to people - they'd just have to do a shorter monologue with stuff they actually wrote themselves.

That won't happen because Leno and others won't cross the writer's picket line and go to work. However, there are others that will and the networks will have to fill that airtime with something. People won't keep tuning in to late night topical talk shows whose topics are weeks old.

If someone wants to offer me a show, drop me a line.