The TV IV Blog

The writers strike is still in full swing this week but there is some good news an end is now actually possible. The two sides have agreed to meet starting next week. It’s unlikely that they will reach a deal quickly but at least it is now theoretically possible for the strike to end. The networks have started to make longer term plans for a continued strike. They’ve started buying new shows and scheduling the non-scripted shows they stockpiled in anticipation of the strike.

This Week

Just three premieres and one special presentation this week first up is TBS’s new sketch comedy Frank TV (Tuesday 11PM) which was supposed to have eight episodes but because of the strike will have only five unless the strike ends quickly. Then on Thursday at 10PM ABC has a special premiere of October Road to make sure Grey’s Anatomy fans that watched it last year realize it’s back. It moves to it’s regular timeslot next Monday at 10PM. On Saturday at 9:30PM CMT debuts the first of it’s four part miniseries Billy Ray Cyrus: Home at Last showcasing the singer/actor/father as he navigates through the different aspects of his life. Lastly also on Saturday at 9PM the Sci Fi Channel debuts the special Battlestar Galactica movie Razor. This will be the only new BSG material until early April 2008.

tags: tv schedule, tv programming, tv iv, tv news, tv updates, writers strike, tbs, frank tv, abc, october road, cmt, billy ray cyrus, home at last, sci fi channel, battlestar galactica, razor, nbc, quarterlife, dirty sexy money, the duel, clash of the choirs, deal or no deal, life, the apprentice, bravo, top chef, holiday special, millionaire matchmaker, house of payne, ghost hunters, ghost hunters international, mtv, kaya, making menudo

New Shows

The first series pick-ups as a result of the strike have started to occur. This week NBC announced that they would be airing six episodes of the made for the internet series Quarterlife. No one is quite sure whether this is a good thing for the writers or not. While it will fill up time with quality scripted programming weakening the impact of the strike on the network, at the same time it also shows that things originally written for the web have a chance of life elsewhere, and jurisdiction over things written for the internet is one of the writers main points of contention with the studios. It also was produced by a completely independent production company with no influence by the network which purchased airing rights only after the episodes were completed. This allowed for much greater creative freedom which is always good for writers. This pre-produced deal is the only kind of new series order that can be made during the strike so that might be the only new scripted show orded for awhile.

Programming Updates

Despite the strike ABC ordered a full season of Dirty Sexy Money probably because they ran out of scripts and don’t want to lose their cast. ABC announced that they will be airing new game show The Duel in a one week once a night programming stunt. During the same week (December 17-21) NBC is doing the same thing with reality competition Clash of the Choirs. If you don’t want to watch either of those you’re not going to have much to watch on the networks that week. The week before NBC is also going to air a bunch of extra Deal or No Deal. Deal will air at 8PM December 11-12 with two hour editions on the 10th and 12th. Life will have a special airing Monday December 3rd after Heroes. That episode will be the first of a two parter that concludes in the shows regular time slot that Wednesday. NBC also announced the premiere date for the celebrity edition of The Apprentice. It’s going to be taking over The Office’s and Scrubs‘ timeslots on January 4th.

The cable networks scheduled a few holiday specials and a couple series. Bravo is planning on airing a Top Chef holiday special on December 6th. They’re also going to air a preview special of new reality series Millionaire Matchmaker on December 12th after Project Runway. TBS will also be airing a holiday special of Tyler Perry’s House of Payne with Payne himself guest starring as his very popular Madea character. The special will air on December 5th. The Sci Fi Channel is debuting the Ghost Hunters spin-off series Ghost Hunters International on January 9th. The series title is pretty self explanatory as to what makes the spin-off different. MTV also announced some time slot changes this week. Looks like their experiment in scripted programming didn’t do so well as they are shipping Kaya off to the television graveyard that is Saturday nights. The network didn’t release any Nielsen data on the show probably because the numbers were just that bad. Making Menudo which had been banished to Sunday mornings after a horrible debut is getting a slight upgrade to afternoon TRL lead-in to finish out its run this week.

General Info. 

I’m going on vacation for Thanksgiving next weekend so there will be no new IV Line next week but I’ll post two weeks worth of updates the following week.

As always all schedule information can be found on our handy grid pages including upcoming programming: Current Broadcast Network Grid, Current Cable Network Grid (with a list of upcoming programs), Upcoming Broadcast Network Grid

 The show’s airing new episodes each day of the week can be found on each day’s respective calendar pages: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.