Strike's end leaves TV status quo intact

The writers' strike is over, but viewers can't escape "American Gladiator" or the new winter edition of "Big Brother" just yet. The wheels of the entertainment industry turn slowly sometimes, and it's going to take TV shows a while to get going and back up to speed.

Comedies like CBS' "How I Met Your Mother" figure to return more quickly than dramas like ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," and some shows may not return at all this season after the episodes that have already been shot air; they might just hold things until next season.

For instance, word is Fox's "24," which was already plagued by the need for rewrites -- as well as star Kiefer Sutherland's drunken-driving jail term -- in addition to the strike, will most likely take the eight episodes it has done and simply hold them for a year, returning early in 2009.

We'll just have to see how Jack Bauer's penchant for torture goes over with the next presidential administration.

In general, expect most dramas to return with four to seven episodes airing in April and May, with comedies able to do five to 10 more shows.

Otherwise, however, the strike ended just in time to keep the major broadcast TV networks from having to dramatically alter their usual practices. Although there was some saber-rattling by producers about allowing the strike to extend into next year, which would have disrupted movie production and forced the major networks to change the way they plan their new fall TV schedules, in the end the strike played out just about as one could have predicted.

The writers endured most of the suffering, going three months without a paycheck. In exchange, they did exact a better deal than Hollywood directors just did, as writers will receive a percentage of money on Internet sales in the years to come. Producers (meaning the major TV networks and movie studios) let the writers twist in the breeze just as long as they could before the work stoppage caused them any real pain. Then they cut the best deal they could when writers were eager to get back to work while insisting on a deal that made the strike seem worthwhile. All those aims were achieved on both sides.

As it is, not only will the Oscars go on, but so will TV's so-called development season, with pilots being prepared in the next couple of months on the way to the unveiling of the new prime-time schedules in May.

If development season had been delayed or even canceled, it would have caused the TV industry to totally re-examine the way it does business. Viewers would have seen more reality series, and perhaps the year-round development the major networks have spoken of for years but haven't really delivered. (They're still taking the summer off for the most part.) A prolonged strike might also have motivated the networks to bring back shows on the bubble. But as it is, they're confident enough that they'll be getting new product that we've probably seen the last of NBC's "Bionic Woman" and the CW's "Life Is Wild," both of which were costly to produce and delivered mediocre ratings. They're not expected to go back into production.

The networks cut a deal just in time to keep the status quo intact. Viewers will see a rush of new shows in time for May sweeps, when networks will also release their fall schedules with new shows. The next month figures to be a little tough with reality series still filling prime time -- hello, "Girlicious," the search for yet another Pussycat Doll -- but after that all should return to "normal," at least by TV standards.

Michael Ausiello's list of which shows are returning and for how many episodes on TVGuide.com: http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Ausiello-Report/Wga-Strike-Favorite/800032698