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BLOG: Hot mess
A look at TV in 2008
By Laura Reineke, Blogs Editor
May 29, 2008 | 6 p.m.
With the season finales of my favorite shows fresh in my mind (“The Office” got its groove back, and “Lost” is still the best show ever), I started to forget that the writers’ strike ever took place. I know what you’re thinking: “Oh yeah, the writers’ strike. Whatever happened with that, anyway?” Well, in layman’s terms, after three months of picketing and negotiations, the Writers Guild of America signed a new contract with the AMPTP, and everyone more or less got on with the show (pardon the pun).
That’s how it looks to the average viewer, anyway. With a few weeks to write and to shoot new episodes, shows were left to finish out their seasons uninterrupted, and audiences are now enjoying a nearly normal May sweeps, filled to the brim with characters’ deaths and cliffhangers. What the average viewer might not know, however, is that the three-month strike wreaked havoc on the development of new shows.
Up until the 2007-2008 season, networks had a nice little system in place to scope out new ideas. They began development of new series as early as November, shot pilots of the most promising in January and had everything set to pitch to the advertisers by May—three months before episodes would actually air alongside returning shows. So while the writers’ strike cut pretty deeply into regular programming, it also royally screwed over pilot season for 2008-2009. With no writers to pen preliminary episodes and a majority of Hollywood talent refusing to cross picket lines, studio execs were left to green light the few shows that had been in talks before the strike began.
What does this mean for the upcoming season? I don’t have a specific count on the number of new series debuting this fall (I think it’s around 14), but let that suffice to say that it is far fewer than 2007. The proposed comedies and reality shows could go either way, but I’m anticipating any real ratings' hits will come from the scripted dramas. The two I’m most excited for are “Dollhouse,” a sci-fi drama from “Buffy” alumni Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku, and “Fringe”, a J.J. Abrams-helmed foray into the paranormal. However, both are set to air on FOX, which means that any kind of ratings problems will put them on the chopping block, regardless of quality or fan base (RIP, “Firefly” and “Arrested Development”).
For established shows that have been renewed, not a whole lot will change. “Chuck,” “Samantha Who?” and “Pushing Daisies” are back for second, full-length seasons, and mainstays like “Heroes,” “Desperate Housewives,” “House” and “Grey’s Anatomy” will return to their usual days and times. Everything else, including “Lost,” “Friday Night Lights,” “24” and a new season of “American Idol,” will be back at the mid-season mark in January.
But there’s quite a distance between then and now. Three months of summer—and all the bad TV that it entails—might seem unbearable, but after this tumultuous season, I can look back at the writers’ strike and take heart. Yes, we shall overcome, and the view from the top of a new season of TV this fall will be all the better for it.
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For more from the mind of Laura Reineke, check out her main blog, OH HONESTLY.