This TV Season? Put a fork in it

Posted: 1/15/08 at 4:07pm

You know what this means: No more new 30 Rock, Office or Ugly Betty episodes till.......?????

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Four major studios have canceled dozens of writers' contracts in a possible concession that the current television season cannot be saved, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

The move means the 2-month old writers strike may also endanger next season's new shows, the Times said.

January is usually the beginning of pilot season, when networks order new scripted shows. But the strike leaves networks without a pool of comedy and drama scripts from which to choose.

20th Century Fox Television, CBS Paramount Network Television, NBC Universal and Warner Bros. Television told the Times they have terminated development and production agreements.

Studios typically pay $500,000 to $2 million a year per writer for them and their staffs to develop new show concepts.

"I didn't see it coming," Barbara Hall, a writer and producer whose credits include former CBS series "Joan of Arcadia" and "Judging Amy," told the Times, which said ABC executives gave her the news Friday. "I am not entirely sure what their strategy is, all I know was that I was a casualty of it."

The newspaper said more than 65 deals with writers have been eliminated since Friday.



Studios cancel contracts

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 4:29pm

Cant wait for the Emmys!

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 4:30pm

Thank God for reality shows.

[Icehouse Life]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 4:32pm

Got the Beijing 2008 Olympics coming up in August.

[sesot]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 4:33pm

I hope things change before August. Why haven't soap operas been impacted by the strike?

[xxnewgirlxx]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 4:36pm

I miss the Office and Samantha Who?

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 4:38pm

Sesot, I'm thinking that their writers are on a different contract.

[sesot]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 4:42pm

Thanks Dottie. Too bad they weren't the ones that went on strike. I guess for now soaps are the only new non reality shows on air right now.

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 4:48pm

They still have the History Channel and the Discovery Channel. I know a lot of people don't bother to switch to those channels, but they've got a LOT of diverse information and it's always presented in a really interesting way.

Who were the writers for the last season of Gilmore Girls? Boy, that show's script went down the toilet those last few episodes. But I miss it anyway

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 4:53pm

Soaps ARE on a different contract, mainly because they don’t re-run, so there is no problem about residuals. But I read somewhere that they may soon be impacted.

Posted: 1/15/08 at 5:00pm

Anna, I find a lot of the History channel's programming downright insulting lately. A Biography of Evel Knieval? Nostradamus crap?

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 5:02pm

I haven't seen that. Come to think of it, I haven't seen History Channel in a while. LIFE AFTER PEOPLE looks pretty cool.

Posted: 1/15/08 at 5:03pm

I am looking forward to that. I have a hunch this planet will be far more enjoyable when the rest of you aren't here.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 5:12pm

>> Soaps ARE on a different contract, mainly because they don’t re-run, so there is no problem about residuals. But I read somewhere that they may soon be impacted.

Uhm... yes, they do. The Soap Opera channel.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 5:18pm

I thought the soaps had months of scripts stockpiled and that's why they are still churning them out, but I could be wrong.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 5:20pm

Nope, those are written and re-written right up to taping. That's one reason why the scenes are all so short: the actors generally get no time whatsoever to learn lines.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 5:47pm

See, that's what I always thought - which admittedly came from movies like Tootsie and Soapdish - and then I read a couple of blurbs before the strike saying they had scripts written very far in advance, and I wondered if that was some sort of bs.

[CyCoSpAz2]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 5:49pm

Big Brother - February 12!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 5:59pm

That was a below-the-belt hit. Wonder how the WGA will deal with it. Will they budge an inch? I definitely support them but wouldn't a poorly remunerated job be better than no job?
Meanwhile, I'm going through PUSHING DAISIES, 30 ROCK, UGLY BETTY, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, HEROES, GREY'S ANATOMY, SAMANTHA WHO? and BROTHERS & SISTERS. Okay, I know a few of those shows aired new episodes last week but knowing that I won't see them again for a long long time to come makes me sad. I used to not watch TV, now I'm a lost cause.
I think the ones suffering the most are the new shows that needed their freshman season to grab their future audience. I am also worried about the mid-season shows that never really had the chance to wrap up their 11-15 episodes (I think that's usually the mid-season number).
30 ROCK also needed the chance of a full second season.
The show that worries me the most is LOST, it was bad enough waiting till January for new episodes, now we'll just get a handful of new episodes and that's it for who knows how long?
Sad, sad, sad.
Only silver lining is that perhaps now some great theater stars working on TV will get the chance to do a few shows: Jane Krakowski, Chandra Wilson, Kristin Chenoweth, Swoozie Kurtz, Vanessa Williams, etc.