Network shows to return this season

[Geekyfanboy]

24 Will Wait for 2009
House and other shows back soon, but Jack Bauer gets the year off.
by IGN Staff

February 12, 2008 - With the end of the writers' strike allowing production to resume, FOX will likely extend the regular TV season past May and into the summer in order to air full or close-to-full seasons of their hit shows -- chief among them House -- says Variety. The network could simply continue airing their shows into June, or may hold some episodes until August. FOX has launched some of their fall lineup early in August in the past and executives have repeatedly stated they'd like to have more scripted series on the air throughout the year.

It's not specific yet which shows will be going back into production, but it seems comedies like 'Til Death and Back to You are strong possibilities. Bones is a bit unique among scripted series currently, in that FOX has four unaired episodes they had held on to, and were originally planning on airing in May. According to multiple sources, a decision has yet to be made on whether to produce more episodes this season for the series.

However, Variety says FOX will not be producing any more episodes of their most heavily serialized series this season, including Prison Break, 24 and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Prison Break turned what would have been their mid-season cliffhanger into a season finale, airing next week.

It's been well documented how 24, after several delays last summer, had only completed eight episodes of their seventh season when the strike began. According to Variety, after other options were considered, FOX has finally decided to simply wait until January 2009 to bring the show back for an uninterrupted season, meaning there will be a very notable 19 month break in-between Season 6 and Season 7.

It's unclear how, if at all, this delay affects 24's future beyond Season 7. The show had been renewed through Season 8, but the fact that it will now miss a full TV season raises questions regarding whether FOX is still definitely going to do an 8th season. Especially taking into account the long delay, many will be observing how the ratings for Season 7 hold up, especially after the show suffered a decrease in viewership during the fairly unpopular Season 6.

In the case of Sarah Connor, FOX's already strong mid-season slate (including their ever-dependable American Idol), means they will not be filming more episodes of that show for this season, nor of other upcoming mid-season launches like Canterbury's Law, says Variety. The fate of Sarah Connor and the other new FOX shows beyond this spring will be decided later.

[Geekyfanboy]

Chuck and Pushing Daisies Wait for Fall
Reaper, Gossip Girl among handful of newer shows to likely go right back into production as strike ends.
by Eric Goldman

February 11, 2008 - Update: As of Tuesday night, the Writers' strike is officially over. Original story follows.


While many TV series will finally be going back into production in the near future, as the writers' strike comes to an almost certain end, it's also being confirmed that most shows that debuted earlier this TV season, buzzed about or not, will be held until fall for additional episodes - that is, among those returning at all. Several new shows, including ABC's Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money, and NBC's Chuck and Life, were given their "back nine" order for a complete season. But with the strike delaying production for many months, the networks are instead concentrating on returning more established hits to the air right away, and then relaunching the newer shows in the fall.

Pushing Daisies' executive producer Bryan Fuller is quoted in on Eonline saying "We're all thrilled the strike is coming to a close and we can drop the politics and get back to the creativity. Many of the shows are getting 'return to work' letters this week from their studios, but we won't be one of them. Previously, Warner Brothers said they wanted us to start writing the moment the WGA allowed us to go back to work so we could get a jump start and begin stockpiling scripts for season two. But I got the call on Friday that they didn't want us to go back to work until March, regardless of the strike outcome. That's not to say there won't be some informal meetings with the writing staff beforehand to discuss arcs for season two, but we're essentially on hold until March (at least in an official capacity). The first order of business will be to sit down with ABC to discuss their thoughts on the nine completed episodes from what I like to call our 'teaser season' -- what they liked and what they didn't -- and then we'll set about crafting season 2 and continuing the adventures of the Pie Maker and friends."

A couple of exceptions to the "waiting until fall" rule can be found at The CW, who are said to be keen on going back into production very soon on Gossip Girl and Reaper for five or six more Season 1 episodes, according to TV Guide. Eonline spoke to Josh Schwartz, executive producer of both Gossip Girl and Chuck, who said "If the strike is over, then on behalf of Chuck and Gossip Girl we are all thrilled to get back to work. Both shows will be back for more episodes -- when, I can't quite say, though Gossip Girl will most likely be on as soon as possible. Chuck may not be back until fall to relaunch with Heroes, or it may be back sooner, but both will be back!" Despite Schwartz saying Chuck could be back sooner, most sources think it's likely it will return in the fall.

One other new show that will get more episodes soon is ABC's Samantha Who?. The successful Christina Applegate comedy could shoot up to eight more episodes this season, according to Michael Ausiello at TV Guide. Ausiello says the network is also considering filming a few more Private Practice episodes this spring, but are more likely to bring the show back in the fall instead.

[Geekyfanboy]

The Office, Earl and 30 Rock Get Ready to Return
Several new episodes of NBC comedies are planned as strike ends.
by Eric Goldman

February 11, 2008 - Update: As of Tuesday night, the Writers' strike is officially over. Original story follows.


NBC's "Comedy Done Right" night will be going forth once more, as the writers' strike comes to its apparent end. While the fate of the final few episodes of Scrubs remains murky (at least as far as them actually airing on NBC or not), multiple sources say The Office, 30 Rock and My Name Is Earl should all be going back into production soon for the network. And unlike most dramas, which may get a handful of episodes to complete a shortened season, we may get nearly a full season in the case of most of the NBC comedies.

In fact, TV Guide is saying that The Office, 30 Rock and Earl all could potentially film as many as ten additional episodes each this season, to air in April and May. TV Guide says at a minimum they expect five more episodes of The Office and 30 Rock and eight more Earl's.

At Eonline, Earl executive producer Greg Garcia has clarified plans for his show a bit, explaining "I've had some chats with people at the network and studio. We're going to try to do nine episodes, which will be very cool, because I was worried that our order would get cut down. The only thing that could stop us is if we have story trouble for some reason, but I'm optimistic. We're gonna do an hour repremiere and an hour finale and five episodes in between. The plan is for production to start two weeks from today, so we have to have a table read a week from tomorrow, so we have a lot to get done."