End of Strike Brings Nourishment for Couch Potatoes

There are four words that every television fan has been waiting to hear since November—and they’re finally here: the strike is over.

After three long months, the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers finally reached an agreement late last week, and the WGA lifted the strike Tuesday night. There are a lot more details about the agreement—what each side got, how much the strike cost the industry, and what this all means for the future of television—but the most important ones are about what’s going to happen to your favorite shows.

While writers are back to work and most shows have gone back into production, it’ll still be awhile before everything is back to normal. With a few exceptions, most new episodes won’t be returning until at least April or May—just in time for papers and finals.

Comedy fans must have great karma, because they’re getting the first wave of new material. Late night television—which was notably absent until January and has been writer-less since—is getting back into the swing of things. Leno, Conan, and Kimmel have their writers back, as do Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert. Snarky political junkies know that it’s been an overly serious campaign season without Saturday Night Live constantly poking fun at the candidates, but that’s about to change. Next Saturday,
Tina Fey will host, with Ellen Page of Juno to follow the week after.

Prime time comedy is also making a triumphant return. Sitcom hits How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock, The Office, and My Name Is Earl will all be returning with multiple episodes this season. In the weeks before the strike, some of the shows started faltering a bit—hopefully, the three-month break has given the writers enough time to come up with fresh plotlines and funnier jokes.

With regard to drama, ABC favorites Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters will each shoot at least four episodes to air later this season—meaning resolutions to some cliffhangers (Wisteria Lane tornado!) and character conflict. But many new series like Dirty Sexy Money, Samantha Who?, Pushing Daisies, and Private Practice will be held until fall for a big re-launch. As much as new episodes of these shows would be great, letting them reestablish, and hopefully build, their audiences will give them a chance to become fan favorites for years to come. And in the meantime, the fans, can always catch up on what you missed or re-watch favorite episodes online.

The biggest downside is for fans of serialized action dramas. Fans of Lost won’t get the 16 episodes promised for this season, but there will be 13. Similarly, Heroes fans will be disappointed by more than the underwhelming beginning to the second season—there will be no new episodes until the fall. Worst of all, Fox is insisting on airing 24 in 24 consecutive weeks, meaning that Season Seven won’t hit screens until 2009. Both Heroes and 24 have struggled in the last season with creative problems and drops in viewers. This extra time should allow the shows to return to their former glory.

Those waits might seem long, but at least they’re returning at all. Other shows aren’t so lucky. Freshman shows Big Shots, Bionic Woman, and Journeyman are essentially over forever. Sophomore favorite Friday Night Lights is definitely done for the season, and could very well be over for good. Even the seventh (and final) season of Scrubs may have some problems. Four pre-strike episodes will begin to air April 10, but creator Bill Lawrence is hoping to get another four episodes to end the series properly. Unfortunately, the fates of these shows haven’t been decided yet, so for now we can only hope that these fan favorites will end (or not end) in the ways that they deserve.

Whether your shows are getting 10 more episodes or none, there’s no doubt that the strike resolution is great news for television. The writers have had three months to recharge their laptops and get creative juices flowing on picket lines—which will hopefully pay off on screen. It looks like May will be jam-packed with great television—if you can find the time to leave Butler.