By Shawn Estes
from WillametteLive, Section Screen
Posted on Wed Nov 07, 2007 at 12:27:44 PM PDT
We're into Day Three of the Writer's Guild Strike and the impact is starting to become more realistic, not only for the big studios, but for the fans as well.All late night programming has gone into reruns, including "The Daily Show," "The Tonight Show," "The Conan O'Brien Show," and "Late Show with David Letterman." The Colbert for President campaign has confirmed that Stephen Colbert has also gone off the air, not because of the writer's strike, but to mourn his defeat in South Carolina. Don't worry, nation. We suspect "The Colbert Report" will be back around the same time all the other writers are back in their offices.
Steve Carrell has forced "The Office" to stop production, due to his refusal to cross the picket line. NBC attempted to keep production running, avoiding the scenes with Carrell. But with no end to the strike in sight, they've pushed all production out in the schedule. Other scripted shows that are currently on the air will not be affected until late December.
"My Name is Earl" has all episodes shot for the season, so will continue uninterrupted.
NBC's new time traveling show, "Journeyman", has completed all ordered episodes for a total of 13, a full season order has not been placed.
CBS's "Moonlight" is short one episode, but has also not received a full order.
"Grey's Anatomy" has five more episodes available to air, so the strike will probably not affect its current schedule.
ABC's "Cavemen" is expected to continue as scheduled, despite the angst of those who have watched it.
Midseason shows have already begun production, so there are episodes available to go if the studios decide they want to bring shows back during the strike without full seasons completed. "Lost" and "24" will have eight episodes ready to go. USA's "Monk" and "Psych" shows have enough episodes to produce the season.
Many summer lineup shows would start production after January, which means that they could have no scripts available and end up shelved. USA's "Burn Notice" was scheduled to begin production in January. FX's "Rescue Me" was expected to start production in early 2008. "The Shield," which is finishing out its run this season, has been written but has no air date set.
Writer John August ("Big Fish", "Go", "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle") is writing blog entries at johnaugust.com about the strike from the writers' perspective. He mentions how some UPS drivers are not crossing the picket lines.
"UPS is union. Several UPS drivers declined to cross our picket lines. I choose to believe those UPS drivers were carrying essential packages that deeply disrupted studio operations."
And maybe the more interesting statement for aspiring screenwriters is that you don't have to be a member to march. If you are looking to become a writer or actor, walking in a picket line for hours with "Heroes" producer Tim Kring or accepting a donut from Jay Leno could be a step in the right direction. John August even goes so far as to say that he can walk and advise at the same time. Hit him up at Paramount, afternoons all this week.
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