WGA STRIKE CENTRAL
Breaking it down, the good, bad and the ugly for midseason, if the strike keeps on going:
FOX: In a good position for mid-season. "They can run the sprockets off of that," notes Shari Anne Brill, Carat USA VP/director of programming. "You give the freaks a little more footage, and the freak shows, which they call the audition highlights. As it is, they expand to six hours a week when it comes back. They can expand on the Hollywood Round, too."
CBS: Not sure how many episodes are around for "Old Christine" and "Swingtown." They only ordered seven Jerichos. CBS isn’t left with a lot unless they go with reality. They may be able to squeeze out more from Survivor. The rest is repeats.
NBC: Most of their good stuff is scripted. How many briefcase-toting models can you see in a week?
ABC: We’re not sure that Dancing With the Stars relies on writers or not, so that may be good news. They really don’t have much of a midseason. Lost hasn’t completed its run. For "24," Kiefer Sutherland is in jail, so they already have a late start.
The CW: They have "Farmer Wants a Wife" in the can; They have "Crowned" where women and their crazy mothers compete in a beauty pageant. "Everybody Hates Chris" has completed production, so they have all of their 22 episodes ready to go.
