"Most prime-time series will need six to eight weeks to write, produce and edit new episodes, but a handful of series (The Office, Two and a Half Men, Desperate Housewives) have one or two scripts nearly ready, which could shorten that time frame.
With few exceptions, most top series will come back between mid-April and early May and air four to six new episodes. Some networks want to keep shooting new shows, hoping to keep them on the air into June to help win back viewers, or store up extra episodes for late summer or fall, partly as insurance against a possible actors' strike June 30. That goal might be hampered because of budgeting problems or stars' film commitments. And serialized dramas will have a harder time for creative reasons.
NBC's Heroes will wait for fall, because of the expense and hurdles of filming a few episodes with a self-contained story. Fox's 24 will produce the remaining 16 episodes of its planned season this spring, to avoid losing options on its actors, but the drama won't return till next January.
"We have to have some kind of abbreviated wrap-up for some shows," says producer Greg Berlanti (Brothers & Sisters). "And for others we're going to have to create the beginning of a new season" in unexpected places. "It's challenging creatively, but it could also end up being inspiring."
But not all shows will return right away: Some newcomers that are neither hits nor flops, such as Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, Chuck and Life, are expected to get new-episode orders but won't be back until fall."
5 comments:
So what does this mean for Lost? Wasn't this season already going to be shorter than normal? How many new episodes can we expect before another year-long wait?
"Lost" filmed 8 episodes before the strike began (two of which we have now seen). They will probably be able to write/film 5-6 more episodes before the end of May, meaning that we'll really only end up missing out on 2-3 episodes of the promised 16.
Promises promises. And why on earth would the actors be striking? Let's just quit watching TV all together. That would show them all!
Well Lost is certainly off to a good start this year. New characters, flashforwards, lots of new questions, very few answers. It's like it never went off the air.
So why do you think the survivors want to get home so bad? They don't have many loved ones at home. They have a great life on the island--plenty of food, nice climate, beautiful beaches, guns, it's the perfect island paradise.
Well, Jon, there is that pesky black cloud to deal with that killed Eko and they blew up the only shower that was close to the beach - and they would have to continue living with Locke who is a little bit psycho. But other than that, maybe life would not be too bad.
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