Post-Strike TV Schedule

Members of the Writers Guild of America may be heading back to work as early as Wednesday, effectively ending their 3-month-long, industry-wide strike.

But that doesn't mean your favorite shows, which have been forced into rerun mode, will be airing fresh new episodes any time soon.

According to Sonia Zjawinski over at The Underwire:

• 24 has been officially postponed for a year.
• Heroes is rumored to have no plans to return this season because its special effects cause production to take too long.
• Lost, although finally back, may air only 13 of the 16 episodes it has in the can.
  
• When The Office returns, which is rumored to be in five weeks, the show may extend its season past May.

According to Reuters, "industry executives say it will likely take eight weeks to restore favorite shows like House, CSI, Grey's Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives to prime time once the strike ends."-- I've read that it will take the same amount of time for new episodes of Ugly Betty to air as well.

Also according to Reuters, "viewers are unlikely to see original episodes of returning hourlong dramas before early April. The same is true for single-camera comedies such as Scrubs which like dramas, are shot more like a film and without live audiences. Multi-camera sitcoms like Two and a Half Men" How I Met Your Mother "and Back to You take less time to make -- three to four weeks from start to finish -- and could be on the air before mid-March."

All of this doesn't afford much time for shows to crank out a bunch of new episodes. Most will only be able to air four to six new episodes before the season wraps in May.

According to Entertainment Weekly:

• Samantha Who? may, however, have the time to air nine new episodes since its pre-strike episodes remain unaired.
• And first-year drama Gossip Girl aims to be back on the CW in late April, and could complete its 22-episode first season by running original hours through the summer.

According to The Huffington Post:

• ABC's Dirty Sexy Money and NBC's Chuck, also aren't expected until fall.
• A minimum of four weeks will also be needed for producers to get the first post-strike episode of comedies such as NBC's My Name Is Earl back on the air.

According to E! Online:

• 30 Rock is expected to produce five to nine new episodes, slated to air in April and May.
• Dexter will absolutely have a season three, but exactly when remains to be determined.
• Big Love will go back into production in March and is likely to return on HBO sometime this summer.

Lastly, Yahoo! News says that "ONLY HITS WILL RETURN. Not all of the roughly 65 scripted series bumped off prime time by the writers' strike will come back this year. Lower-rated shows whose futures already were in doubt will either be placed on hold for possible relaunch in the future or be canceled altogether, in part because networks lack the time to build up marketing campaigns for them." I've read shows such as NBC's Bionic Woman and CBS' Moonlight fall into this category and may not be returning at all.