The entertainment industry came to a halt Monday.

The Writers Guild of America, with its 12,000 members, went on strike due to failed contract negotiations with The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

The writers say they deserve a bigger share of DVD sales and residuals for shows shown on the Internet. The members won’t work until their demands are met.

Everyone in the entertainment industry is feeling the effects of the strike. Since writers have gone on strike, production on television shows and in-progress movies has been affected.

Most scripted shows on television have enough episodes taped to last until January. However, shows such as “The Daily Show” and “Late Show with David Letterman” have already felt the effects. Production has been suspended indefinitely on both.

Another casualty is “Saturday Night Live,” which had to cancel this Saturday’s show.

A similar strike in 1988 lasted for 22 weeks. This leaves many wondering how long this strike will last and at what cost to Hollywood.

Yes, the writers deserve much better treatment, but this strike will only create more problems for the entertainment industry and avid watchers of television and film.

Going on strike on shows when there are two months worth of footage shot is a miscalculation. Writers will be out of work while producers and studios could still turn a profit.

In a two-month period, major networks could begin shooting reality shows that don’t require the use of Writers Guild members (not to mention that “American Idol” is coming back soon to dominate ratings).

This is bad news for shows that are currently in production, such as “Lost” and “24,” as networks will have to decide whether to air half a season or wait an unknown amount of time to complete filming on a whole season.

If, for some reason, this strike lasts for six months to a year, it will forever change the entertainment industry.

Not only will there be no more scripted shows on television, but there will be no more movies being produced that are fresh and original. Television will shift to “Dateline”- and “Dancing With The Stars”-type programs, and movies will be recycled scripts of years past.

In an age where we have entertainment at our fingertips with YouTube and iTunes, this strike may permanently leave a bad taste in the mouth of television watchers and moviegoers everywhere.

With Barack Obama publicly supporting the writers and celebrities such as Jay Leno, Steve Carell and David Letterman showing their solidarity in the strike, this issue should be resolved quickly and efficiently by some sort of compromise.

Either the studio heads have to negotiate, or the writers needs to realize the mess this strike will cause.

Something needs to happen as soon as possible.

Otherwise, come January, if the strike has yet to be resolved, we need to prepare for reruns or worse – more reality television.