Feb 19, 2008,
I.A.
As the Writers Guild strike took its toll, the networks started to run out of new episodes of scripted shows from their fall schedules last month, and by the time the strike was finally settled a week ago, about the only scripted shows left were programs held back for midseason like Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Law & Order. But like students shuffling back from summer break, our old familiar shows will begin returning to the prime time schedule in about a month, and by mid-April things will be more or less back to normal, at least until summer shuts things down once more. Here's a quick network-by-network guide to when you can expect to see programs coming back.
FOX:
This network could be excused for mixed emotions about the strike ending, since with American Idol up and running, it had a significant relative advantage over the competition that's now gone. But there are still a few scripted shows on Fox, even in the spring. Back To You and Bones, both of which ran their most recent new episodes well before Christmas, were always going to come back with their last unaired episodes eventually. In the case of Back to You, that will be next Tuesday February 26, and with the strike ending there should be new episodes well into May. Bones is not coming back until April 14, but whether episodes shot now will air this season or next is still unknown. House will likewise shoot new episodes, but Fox has as yet given no details as to when they might run. K-Ville is history, and Prison Break is likely finished for this season although Fox has yet to say for certain.
ABC:
The alphabet network is giving three freshman series the rest of the year off: Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, and Private Practice, all of which will come back in the fall. Surprisingly, it has yet to give the green light to Women's Murder Club, which held its own in the Friday death slot. The network has yet to set official times for the return of Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, Ugly Betty, and Boston Legal, although mid-April is looking like the target area. Samantha Who? will be back with its last pre-strike shows as well as some new shows in the post-Dancing With the Stars slot that worked so well for it last fall; and Men In Trees, which got a late premiere last fall only to disappear about a month later, will finally return on February 27. The highlight: it looks like Lost will shoot five additional episodes to make for a season of 13 in all.
NBC:
As expected, first-year shows Life and Chuck are finished for this season, but will be back in the fall, while Journeyman and Bionic Woman are dead. My Name Is Earl will come back on April 3 with a one-hour episode, while April 10 is the target date for the return of the rest of the NBC Thursday lineup: 30 Rock, The Office, Scrubs, and ER. Law & Order: SVU will shoot five more episodes to begin airing on April 23, while the revitalized Law & Order will also shoot several new episodes. Medium, which still had a month's worth of pre-strike episodes to run, will also go back into production and should run through May without interruption. As expected, Heroes will be completely held back until the fall. Two more veteran shows are out of production for this season, with their fates undecided: Las Vegas and Friday Night Lights.
CW:
The network's sitcoms Everybody Loves Chris and Aliens in America managed to produce full seasons even before the strike was called, and both will be back in March. The Game is expected back on March 23, while the network's longest-running sitcom, Girlfriends, is now out of production for good. It's going to be a longer wait for the hour-long CW shows: Gossip Girl won't be back for its final five episodes until April 21, with Reaper coming back on April 22. Smallville returns on April 17 for five episodes, and Supernatural joins it the following Thursday for four new episodes of its own.
CBS:
The network's Monday night sitcom lineup, which began feeling the toll of the strike early on, will feature the first veteran shows revived post-strike, as Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory will all be back with the first of nine new episodes on March 17. The Rules of Engagement will be back four weeks later, once The New Adventures of Old Christine has finished its run. As for the CBS flotilla of procedurals, CSI: Miami returns March 24, both CSI: NY and Criminal Minds are expected back on April 2, and CSI: Original Recipe and Without A Trace make their reappearances on April 3. NCIS will be back on April 8, but The Unit is out of production at least for this year, with its future up in the air. There will also be new episodes of the Friday shows Ghost Whisperer, Moonlight, and NUMB3RS. Cold Case is expected back with new material on March 30, and Shark, currently on hiatus, will also shoot at least four new episodes.
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