TV shows start to learn their fate

From Variety.com

(I bolded what I thought were the most popular shows to those of us on UKY)

Networks plot post-strike schedules
By JOSEF ADALIAN, MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

As showrunners flip on the lights and scribes once again occupy long-abandoned writers' rooms, network and studio execs are still figuring out what lives, what dies -- and when it all comes back.
ABC got the ball rolling Monday, renewing nine series for fall in a post-strike pickup binge.

The renewals were essentially no-brainers, encompassing some of the Alphabet web's top-rated scripted performers. Frosh series scoring orders include "Dirty Sexy Money," "Private Practice," "Pushing Daisies" and "Samantha Who?" All four have received 13-episode pickups, as is standard practice among frosh skeins.

ABC staples earning another year include "Brothers & Sisters," "Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost" and "Ugly Betty." Most of those received complete 22-episode orders (with some exceptions -- "Lost," for example, was originally slated to produce 16 episodes next year but may produce a few more if a full 16 aren't shot this year).

Several other networks are planning announcements in the next few days spelling out their spring and fall plans.

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("Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Ugly Betty" are all expected to reappear with several episodes before the season's out.)

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As for "Lost," exec producer Carlton Cuse said he and fellow showrunner Damon Lindelof would meet with ABC brass today to hammer out the plan for the rest of the season. They won't be able to finish the remaining eight segs of the show's planned 16-episode season -- five is a more likely number -- but they will be able to craft a completed storyline for the remainder of this season, Cuse said.

And whatever segs are not produced this season will be picked up down the road in the show's remaining two seasons, Cuse said.

"We're going to try to make as many as we can and do a good job of finishing out this season," he said. "We'll have to compress some of the storytelling we planned for this season, and that may not be a bad thing. Damon and I feel like we know how we can finish it off and still make it a really, really great story."

Over at David E. Kelley Prods., the shingle is prepping the return of "Boston Legal." A spokeswoman said the show could be back in front of cameras as soon as next Wednesday -- most likely making it the first drama to resume shooting post-strike. (Scribe Kelley can churn out scripts so swiftly that such a breakneck return to production isn't a surprise.)

"Boston Legal" had already shot 14 segs of its 22-episode order. Given the show's quick return, Kelley's production company believes it can still fulfill that commitment before the end of the season.

Dramas moving forward include all three editions of the "CSI" franchise, "NCIS," "Without a Trace," "Cold Case," "Numbers," "Criminal Minds," "Ghost Whisperer" and "Moonlight."

Laffers given a greenlight are "Two and a Half Men," "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Big Bang Theory."

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Fox plans to extend the regular TV season in order to take advantage of late-delivered episodes from shows including "House." Originals of certain shows could continue airing into June, web insiders said, or else in August. Such a scenario would make good on long-promised attempts at running original scripted fare during the vacation months.

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Then there's "24." Fox has decided not to try forcing a full season of the Kiefer Sutherland drama at this late date; show won't return until January.

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NBC is expected to bring back most of its Thursday laffers, including "My Name Is Earl," "The Office" and "30 Rock." It's not yet clear how many episodes of "Scrubs" will be produced. NBC has said the skein is in its final season; network and producer ABC Studios are negotiating just how many segs creator Bill Lawrence will get to wrap up his show.

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Full (and long) article is here at Variety.com

Brilliant!!!!  Thank you E!

I've been nervously awaiting Scrubs' fate.  Guess I'll have to wait a tad longer.

Thank you! 

Oh, and YAY about House!  I've been so enjoying new episodes of it during all this strike stuff.  Makes me even happier to know they're extending the season.