What are you watching this summer?

[Miss Mary]

fact - Lost was superb last night, lots of twists and angles and well, action. At least we saw the 2 groups in motion. Can't stand Miles already. The girl - eh. Take or leave her. The long haired hippie dude pilot - they could maybe get him to their good side. But Miles - he's much too intense. If Ben only knew, he'd try to get Miles on his side, whatever the HECK that is! I am very confused at this point. But I also trust Jack and Kate's intuition, when they're in sinc, they are in sinc baby! The one who I feel as though we can trust the most right now is Sayid. Sayid is always thinking ahead and questions the motives of ALL newcomers! The show really took a shift when Juliet gave her name. That pilot must not have taken as many drugs in his youth as he looked like he did - under all that hair, he's still got it.......hey, did you expect to see Naomi just cough or wake up? I did! I thought the image of seeing the helicopter was great - as if they couldn't believe their eyes. Especially when the camera angle panned to each Oceanic 815 survivor to show their reaction.

*Edit* I posted a blog/recap from TV Guide, it's very thorough, in case you're confused (who's confused, not me, LOL.....oh I'm confused alright but what a fun ride this Lost stuff is!).
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=94730&p=1687141#p1687141

[Brent]

http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry ... /800032698

After the Strike: When Your Favorites Will Return!

At long last, a strike chart you can get excited about!

With an end to the three-month-old WGA strike imminent (yay!), the networks have quietly begun outlining plans to salvage what's left of the current TV season. At the same time, I've been quietly picking at my moles to get a preview of those plans — the results of which appear in chart form below.

Keep in mind that the following information remains extremely tentative and is subject to change (and probably will). In other words, I strongly suggest you refresh your browser at least once an hour to ensure that you're getting the most up-to-date scoop possible.

24
Expected to return this fall or January '09.

30 Rock
Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

Back to You
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Future TBD*.

Bionic Woman
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Big Love
Expected to go into production on Season 3 in March. Airdate info is TBD.

Bones
Four pre-strike episodes left. Unclear whether additional episodes will be produced for this season.

Brothers & Sisters
Expected to shoot 4 or 5 new episodes to air in April/May.

Chuck
No new episodes until fall.

Criminal Minds
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

CSI
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

CSI: Miami
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

CSI: NY
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Desperate Housewives
Expected to shoot 4 or 5 new episodes to air in April/May.

Dirty Sexy Money
No new episodes planned until fall; three remaining pre-strike episodes will undergo some tweaking and kick off fall run.

ER
TBD.

Everybody Hates Chris
Twelve pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Friday Night Lights
No new episodes expected for this season. Future TBD.

Gossip Girl
Expected to shoot up to 9 new episodes to air in April/May/June.

Grey's Anatomy
Expected to shoot 4 or 5 new episodes to air in April/May

Heroes
TBD.

House
Expected to shoot 4 to 6 new episodes to air in April/May.

How I Met Your Mother
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Jericho
Seven episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Las Vegas
Three pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Law & Order: SVU
TBD.

Life
No new episodes expected until fall.

Life Is Wild
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Lost
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Six additional episodes could air this season.

Medium
Six pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.

Men in Trees
Eleven pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.

Moonlight
No new episodes expected until fall.

My Name Is Earl
Expected to shoot 8 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

NCIS
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes, only three of which may air this season.

The New Adventures of Old Christine
Seven pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.

Numbers
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes, only three of which may air this season.

October Road
Five pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

The Office
Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

One Tree Hill
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Prison Break
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Private Practice
Expected to shoot 4 or 5 new episodes to air in April/May.

Pushing Daisies
No new episodes until fall.

Reaper
Three pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Samantha Who?
Three remaining pre-strike episodes could possibly surface this season, or be held until fall (see Dirty Sexy Money).

Scrubs
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Four additional episodes will likely be shot; unclear whether they'll air on NBC or go straight to DVD.

Smallville
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 3 to 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.

Supernatural
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 3 to 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Five pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Two and a Half Men
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Ugly Betty
Expected to shoot 4 or 5 new episodes to air in April/May.

Women's Murder Club
No additional episodes expected for this season. Future TBD, although one Club member admits, "We're terrified that it's over for us."

* TBD = To be determined

[Miss Mary]

Brent - thanks for that update. I understand it's tentative. Are you hearing anything about Big Bang Theory?

[Cyclenall]

What is the status on Family Guy along with other animated shows?

[lurkey]

No agreement has surfaced yet. . . btw it's 5:00pm Pacific time. .

Tick-Tock Update: No WGA Deal Language Yet (...Continuously Updated)

3:30 PM: Immediately after meeting with the strike captains, Dave Young and other WGA negotiators went back to continue working on a draft of the deal language. Said one WGA strike captain, "We were told that the other side's lawyers just keep chipping away and making changes in order to gain a few crumbs more favorable. This is a dangerous game they're playing. It's Russian roulette."

2:15 PM: I'm told the WGA leadership spent from 10 AM to 2:15 PM today briefing strike captains point by point about the deal. I'm told among the bad news is that the negotiated writer-mogul terms still call for that 17-day window for ad-embedded TV show streaming. But one prominent strike captain describes the good news to me like this: "This is a decent deal if the distributors gross turns out to be a real number. There are some protections in there, and some good points, that I didn't expect them to be able to negotiate. On Saturday, I'll be speaking in favor of the deal. Writers need to let go of some dreams. It's not a resounding and humiliating defeat of the companies. But it also doesn't let the networks and studios treat the Internet like the Wild Wild West."

12 Noon: So when is the WGA membership going to see the language of the deal that the leadership is bringing the union? I'm told by an insider that "it has to be completed first and it is not as of now". Time is growing short before Saturday's meeting...

9 AM-11 AM: In NYC today, the WGAE held a “large-scale” picket in front of Time Warner Center that may have been its last-gasp action if the strike is called off Sunday and the writers go back to work Monday. More than 300 people turned out "to show their solidarity and commitment to getting a fair deal," organizers said. Among those in attendance today were Michael Moore, Tina Fey, Griffin Dunne, Seth Meyers, Rachel Dratch, David Chase, Terry George, Andrew Bergman, Tom Fontana, Warren Leight, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Jerry Coopersmith, and many WGAE Council members. In addition, the WGAE striking writers were joined by members of the WGAW, the Pilots Union (dressed in their pilot uniforms), SEIU, SAG and AFTRA. Also out today, as always, were the writing staffs of the NY-based late night shows – Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and The Colbert Report. In addition, all of the writers of The Late Show With David Letterman participated in today’s picket to show their continued solidarity with their fellow writers still on strike. They also continued their tradition of donating lunch to the picketers. The WGAE’s next “big picket” is scheduled for Wednesday, February 12th in front of Viacom. Or not.

[Brent]

I'm getting concerned this is going to fall through. The 2:15 update sounds optimistic though.

[lurkey]

7:00 PM: Still no deal language has been posted on the WGA websites or emailed to the WGAW or WGAE membership. The NYC informational meeting starts at 2 PM East Coast time on Saturday while the Los Angeles meeting kicks off at 7 PM Pacific time. The writers will have less than 24 hours to examine the deal language for themselves as a result. As one strike captain told me today, "Procedure has become a larger concern."

7:08 PM: United Hollywood, the officially unofficial communications blog of the WGA and is lobbying in favor of the deal, confirms my info on what is going down between the guilds and the mogul lawyers in drafting the deal language:

The Strike Captains met at the WGA Theater today and we were allowed to look at the NOT FINISHED Terms Of Agreement.The reason that the Guild has not published them to everyone in the membership is because they ARE NOT FINISHED. In fact, still today the negotiating team has to fight the AMPTP lawyers on drafting legal language that the lawyers keep backsliding on – which sounds like, “Nope, my boss never agreed to that.” Then our leadership shows them their notes from the meeting. They say, “Well, here are our notes,” which contradict – so the leadership has to call up Chernin and Iger – who then have to call their lawyers and tell them to back-off. Then, the music stops and they scramble for chairs.

If the AMPTP lawyers don’t hammer out the legal language tonight in a fair way that was agreed upon by all parties, and get it signed by their CEO bosses by midnight tonight (the agreed upon deadline) then it only hurts the AMPTP and the entire town, because there is no way the leadership will show it to us until it’s finalized. They know too well how slippery these folks are – once you tell your membership this is what it will be – well then the lawyers have no incentive to improve on the legal language.

So, that is why you haven’t seen the terms and deal points yet. However, as soon as the ink is dry – they will be emailed to you both in summary and in longform immediately by your guild (East and West). Hopefully, that will be tonight, or early tomorrow morning. This way they can be studied and discussed before the general assemblies (East and West) tomorrow.

8:00 PM: Nothing yet.

9:00 PM: Still nothing.

10:40 PM: An insider just told me, "They're going to work til it's done. My best guess is they'll have something at midnight. The WGA side yells at [Peter] Chernin, and then Chernin yells at Nick [Counter] and Carol [Lombardini, AMPTP's executive vice president for business and legal affairs] who is really the brains behind the AMPTP operation. But the AMPTP had this stuff on Tuesday and didn't come back with comments until 5 PM today. It's a cluster f***. But no draft, no meetings Saturday."

[lurkey]

Specific terms of the agreement

Deal in English

The writers will return to work during the 10-day ratification process.

Nothing about DVDs, a lot about "New Media"

[RL3AO]

I was hoping 24 would start by March.

[lurkey]

All of these, btw, has been from Deadline Hollywood Daily

SATURDAY 6 AM: WGAW and WGAE sent this letter to membership with the drafted deal summary. So now the NYC WGA membership have 5 hours to review it. And the LA WGA membership 12 hours. The huge question today is whether the writers gathering for these meetings will give the WGA West and East governing bodies an unofficial OK to approve the deal on Sunday and call off the strike starting as soon as Monday. The Hollywood CEOs have insisted that the WGA leadership call off the strike before its membership votes on the contract. But the tentative deal cannot be formally accepted until the WGAE and WGAW memberships vote, and that ballotting is expected within the next two weeks. Therefore, Variety's headline this morning -- WRITERS, PRODUCERS REACH TENTATIVE DEAL -- is inaccurate. (Keep refreshing Deadline Hollywood Daily for latest strike news...)

To Our Fellow Members,

We have a tentative deal.

It is an agreement that protects a future in which the Internet becomes the primary means of both content creation and delivery. It creates formulas for revenue-based residuals in new media, provides access to deals and financial data to help us evaluate and enforce those formulas, and establishes the principle that, "When they get paid, we get paid."

Specific terms of the agreement are described in the summary at the following link - http://mail.citrustudio.com/ct/1843160: ... C64503D7B- and will be further discussed at our Saturday membership meetings on both coasts. At those meetings we will also discuss how we will proceed regarding ratification of this agreement and lifting the restraining order that ends the strike. Details of the Los Angeles meeting can be found at http://mail.citrustudio.com/ct/1843161: ... 1C64503D7B.

Less than six months ago, the AMPTP wanted to enact profit-based residuals, defer all Internet compensation in favor of a study, forever eliminate "distributor's gross" valuations, and enforce 39 pages of rollbacks to compensation, pension and health benefits, reacquisition, and separated rights. Today, thanks to three months of physical resolve, determination, and perseverance, we have a contract that includes WGA jurisdiction and separated rights in new media, residuals for Internet reuse, enforcement and auditing tools, expansion of fair market value and distributor's gross language, improvements to other traditional elements of the MBA, and no rollbacks.

Over these three difficult months, we shut down production of nearly all scripted content in TV and film and had a serious impact on the business of our employers in ways they did not expect and were hard pressed to deflect. Nevertheless, an ongoing struggle against seven, multinational media conglomerates, no matter how successful, is exhausting, taking an enormous personal toll on our members and countless others. As such, we believe that continuing to strike now will not bring sufficient gains to outweigh the potential risks and that the time has come to accept this contract and settle the strike.

Much has been achieved, and while this agreement is neither perfect nor perhaps all that we deserve for the countless hours of hard work and sacrifice, our strike has been a success. We activated, engaged, and involved the membership of our Guilds with a solidarity that has never before occurred. We developed a captains system and a communications structure that used the Internet to build bonds within our membership and beyond. We earned the backing of other unions and their members worldwide, the respect of elected leaders and politicians throughout the nation, and the overwhelming support of fans and the general public. Our thanks to all of them, and to the staffs at both Guilds who have worked so long and patiently to help us all.

There is much yet to be done and we intend to use all the techniques and relationships we've developed in this strike to make it happen. We must support our brothers and sisters in SAG who, as their contract expires in less than five months, will be facing many of the same challenges we have just endured. We must further pursue new relationships we have established in Washington and in state and local governments so that we can maintain leverage against the consolidated multinational conglomerates with whom we bargain. We must be vigilant in monitoring the deals that are made in new media so that in the years ahead we can enforce and expand our contract. We must fight to get decent working conditions and benefits for writers of reality TV, animation, and any other genre in which writers do not have a WGA contract.

Most important, however, is to continue to use the new collective power we have generated for our collective benefit. More than ever, now and beyond, we are all in this together.

Best,

Patric M. Verrone
President, WGAW

Michael Winship
President, WGAE

[Brent]

[lurkey]

:woo:

not yet -- wait for Sunday . . .the meetings are today. . Finke is saying that the meetings will be contentious. .

SATURDAY 9:45 AM: A WGA leadership insider just told me: "No decision has yet been made about lifting the strike. It is very possible member vote will be taken this week before strike is lifted. That will be decided by [WGA East] council and [WGA West] board tomorrow based on member feedback today."

[Brent]

SATURDAY 2:00 PM: Here's first word to me from inside the WGA East "informational" meeting in NYC's Crowne Plaza Hotel in Times Square. (The meeting is still going on...): "The room at first was not overly contentious as everyone listened to [WGA East Michael] Winship and others. Basically, the leadership was selling the deal. The leadership made it clear that the deal is a limited time offer. That if we don't go back to work on this immediately we lose the deal and we're back to the beginning again. There was some pushback. There was a lot of conversation how we shouldn't go back immediately and we should at least have 48 hours to think about this. And the argument was that the AMPTP has said that this deal is contingent on going back to work immediately. That it's kind of a 'take or leave it offer' and if we don't take this then we could be out forever. But the leadership may consider a delay for 48 hours, that it's a possibility this is what they'll do. The mood in the room was that, 'It's not a perfect deal, but it's good enough'. There was a sense of resignation."

[lurkey]

4:45 PST (7:45 EST)

SATURDAY 4:00 PM (7:00 EST): The WGA East's "informational" meeting for membership lasted about 3 hours. Here's more about the NYC confab from a WGA attendee: "The East meeting was insanely civil. Not one chair thrown. I was at the meeting in the same ballroom the second week of the strike, when the same people were sitting up there and were characteristically defensive about why we had gone out and if they knew what they were doing. Today, those same people were not only confident, they were not in the least defensive about the deal -- they were realistic, 180 degrees from the chaos and disarray I smelled three months ago. And they ain't actors. I think if they felt they needed to ram something down our throats, you would have picked up on that immediately. The two big moments for me came very early, when each member of the negotiating committee spoke briefly. Terry George said, 'We have defeated a tradition of rollbacks that began with the air traffic controllers.' That crystallized what we were up against and how far we had come and changing the dialogue. A couple minutes later, Melissa Salmons said, 'For years, I have lived in fear of that DVD formula, that it would be with me for my life. Now we have a deal that have movement in it. I never cared about the numbers. I just wanted a new system implemented.' (Later on, she told a daytime writer that the staff of Days of Our Lives, who had all been fired last week, were getting their jobs back. And that a striking writer, if fired, had to be replaced by a striking writer. Not a scab, and not a fi-core member. Big ovation.) I'll stop short of calling it a love fest, but not all that short. Legit questions were raised and respectfully answered. Again, no defensiveness. There was an informal applause poll, and the room was overwhelmingly in favor of ending the strike before a membership ratification vote."

[Brent]

4:45 PST (7:45 EST)

SATURDAY 4:00 PM (7:00 EST): The WGA East's "informational" meeting for membership lasted about 3 hours. Here's more about the NYC confab from a WGA attendee: "The East meeting was insanely civil. Not one chair thrown. I was at the meeting in the same ballroom the second week of the strike, when the same people were sitting up there and were characteristically defensive about why we had gone out and if they knew what they were doing. Today, those same people were not only confident, they were not in the least defensive about the deal -- they were realistic, 180 degrees from the chaos and disarray I smelled three months ago. And they ain't actors. I think if they felt they needed to ram something down our throats, you would have picked up on that immediately. The two big moments for me came very early, when each member of the negotiating committee spoke briefly. Terry George said, 'We have defeated a tradition of rollbacks that began with the air traffic controllers.' That crystallized what we were up against and how far we had come and changing the dialogue. A couple minutes later, Melissa Salmons said, 'For years, I have lived in fear of that DVD formula, that it would be with me for my life. Now we have a deal that have movement in it. I never cared about the numbers. I just wanted a new system implemented.' (Later on, she told a daytime writer that the staff of Days of Our Lives, who had all been fired last week, were getting their jobs back. And that a striking writer, if fired, had to be replaced by a striking writer. Not a scab, and not a fi-core member. Big ovation.) I'll stop short of calling it a love fest, but not all that short. Legit questions were raised and respectfully answered. Again, no defensiveness. There was an informal applause poll, and the room was overwhelmingly in favor of ending the strike before a membership ratification vote."

[Brent]

Variety:

Writers upbeat but still no vote
New York meeting offers information, hope
By DADE HAYES
The two-and-a-half hour meeting of the WGA's East Coast members was essentially informational, but members seemed to like the information they were getting.

No vote was taken but the sentiment was strong in favor of the tentative pact. Members said the room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the Broadway theater district came alive with cheers at various points. Some skeptics drilled into details and asked pointed questions, but an exodus of satisfied scribes began after about an hour.

"This is a historic moment for writers in this country," said Michael Moore. "There is a certain irony about the achievement. I would have thought it'd be autoworkers or ironworkers getting this victory but instead it's the people who got beat up in school for writing in their journals."

"Late Night with David Letterman" writer Bill Scheft described a galvanizing moment early on when filmmaker Terry George rose to speak. "He said we have defeated a tradition of rollbacks that goes back to the air-traffic controllers in 1981," Scheft said. "And that was all I needed to hear."

While not every scribe was quite as ebullient, the mood was undeniably upbeat. "I will vote for this deal but I have a few more questions because I'm bad at math," said screenwriter Steven Katz, in a remark typical of those by rank-and-filers emerging from the hotel's bland conference room.

Members entering the meeting, which was off-limits to the press, were handed a four-page summary of the deal. The session began with comments from negotiators, followed by an open forum.

"It's breaking down now," said one early departee. "People are just standing up and reciting their credits."

Another writer described the scene as a rally for guild members who'd been picketing in Gotham for more than three chilly months. "We were proud that we all stood strong," she said.

"It wasn't unanimous, but there was an overwhelming sense of relief," said Tom Phillips, a CBS newswriter and WGAE Council member.

"Saturday Night Live" cast member Seth Myers, a constant presence on the picket lines, said members felt "we were right about these things." He said the show would resume quickly, perhaps as early as Feb. 16.

Carmen Culver, a film and TV scribe, was asked on her way out of the hotel whether the mood in the room was jubilant.

"Well, we're writers," she said with a smile. "There was jubilation, determination, plenty of questions."

Added Scheft, "This is just the East Coast. The Shrine is where the action is."

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111798 ... 1&nid=4056

[lurkey]

SATURDAY 8:00 PM: The Los Angeles Times' Envelope blog just sent out an email alert that the WGA strike will not be over on Monday. This is based on the blogging of LAT columnist Joel Stein, who is the newspaper's unreadable humor columnist and is inside the WGA West membership meeting at the Shrine because he is a guild member. Stein says WGAW President Patric Verrone told the room that the strike isn’t over Monday and the decision to lift the strike will be up to the membership after the vote on the contract. I do not have confirmation of this yet, although I have been reporting since yesterday that WGA members were pressing the guild's leadership and governing bodies for more time to study the language and terms of the proposed WGA-mogul deal. However, earlier today the WGA East membership meeting in NYC was told that the AMPTP made the deal contingent on writers going back to work immediately.

[Brent]

SATURDAY 9:00 PM: I've received word from inside the Shrine Auditorium meeting that the WGA West membership seemed "very positive" about resolving the strike as soon as possible and accepting the deal negotiated by the guild leadership. A writer attendee just left the confab and told me: "There was cheering and standing ovation after standing ovation for all the leadership, especially Patric Verrone and Dave Young. Patric said the strike would be lifted 48 hours after the WGA boards meet Sunday to recommend the contract, but it was very unclear exactly what day we all go back to work. He said we would go back to work in 48 hours after the deal is recommended, so that may be Tuesday or Wednesday, and then the membership vote would be taken 10 days later. There is no question in my mind that because of the atmosphere in that room this strike will be called off. It's over."

[lurkey]

It's over."

[lurkey]

SATURDAY 9:00 PM: I've received word from inside the Shrine Auditorium meeting that the WGA West membership seemed "very positive" about resolving the strike as soon as possible and accepting the deal negotiated by the guild leadership. A writer attendee just left the confab and told me: "There was cheering and standing ovation after standing ovation for all the leadership, especially Patric Verrone and Dave Young. Patric said the strike would be lifted 48 hours after the WGA boards meet Sunday to recommend the contract, but it was very unclear exactly what day we all go back to work. He said we would go back to work in 48 hours after the deal is recommended, so that may be Tuesday or Wednesday, and then the membership vote would be taken 10 days later. There is no question in my mind that because of the atmosphere in that room this strike will be called off. It's over."

WGAW President Patric Verrone announced that there would be a vote of the membership over the next 48 hours on whether or not to lift the strike. Presumably this vote will be done electronically. I'm told that Verrone said specifically that the decision to call off the strike, regardless of the WGA Negotiating Committee's or the WGAW Board's or WGAE Council's recommendation, was to be in the hands of the membership. Pending that outcome, the 10-day ballotting ratification process of the tentative deal would begin. So Hollywood may likely get back to work by Wednesday.

I'm told by other writers at the meeting that they believe everyone will go back to work on Monday, as planned. About 25% of the attendees left the auditorium after Dave Young explained the deal points. But the meeting is still going on as members now ask questions about specific terms.