Spring Break
Primetime television leaves hibernation
Erin Shea
Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Entertainment
04/09/08 - Spring has sprung, and with that comes the return of all things new: leaves on the trees, flowers on the ground and new shows on your TV.
After an especially long and torturous hiatus, many of your favorite television shows are back, right in time to help you fail your finals. Yep, that's right, many (but not all) television shows will be back to wrap up an abbreviated TV season.
Some shows, like "Bones," "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and "Samantha Who?" will only be producing two or three new episodes this season. Others, like "My Name is Earl," "CSI Miami" and "How I Met Your Mother" are expected to produce eight or nine new episodes before the end of the season.
However, most shows, like "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost," "ER," "House," "The Office," and "Scrubs," are expected to produce between four and six new episodes.
It all depends on how long each show typically takes to produce an episode and how long it took them to get back into production following the end of the strike.
Series are expected to return between mid-March and late April.
Some shows, however, didn't make the cut for various reasons and won't be returning this season. For many of the new shows, like "Pushing Daisies," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Private Practice" and "Chuck," the networks decided it would be better to give them more promotion and hold off airing new episodes until fall, since they haven't been on TV long enough to have a well-established audience.
Some veteran shows like "Men in Trees," "Prison Break" and "Friday Night Lights" were deemed too costly to produce or had low ratings and the networks decided not to bring them back this season- although they may not return next season.
In the case of the shows above, "Friday Night Lights" and "Prison Break" have both been renewed for next season, whereas "Men in Trees'" fate has yet to be determined, although it does still have pre-strike episodes left that are set to air this season.
"24"-another veteran show not returning this season-won't be returning until January. Due to the nature of the show, Fox decided it would be best to air it when it can run without interruption. According to TV Guide, there will, however, be a TV movie, set to air this fall, that will fill in the gap in time between seasons six and seven.
So there you have it, the details of the world, post-writers' strike. Bounce for joy or mourn accordingly.
After an especially long and torturous hiatus, many of your favorite television shows are back, right in time to help you fail your finals. Yep, that's right, many (but not all) television shows will be back to wrap up an abbreviated TV season.
Some shows, like "Bones," "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and "Samantha Who?" will only be producing two or three new episodes this season. Others, like "My Name is Earl," "CSI Miami" and "How I Met Your Mother" are expected to produce eight or nine new episodes before the end of the season.
However, most shows, like "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost," "ER," "House," "The Office," and "Scrubs," are expected to produce between four and six new episodes.
It all depends on how long each show typically takes to produce an episode and how long it took them to get back into production following the end of the strike.
Series are expected to return between mid-March and late April.
Some shows, however, didn't make the cut for various reasons and won't be returning this season. For many of the new shows, like "Pushing Daisies," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Private Practice" and "Chuck," the networks decided it would be better to give them more promotion and hold off airing new episodes until fall, since they haven't been on TV long enough to have a well-established audience.
Some veteran shows like "Men in Trees," "Prison Break" and "Friday Night Lights" were deemed too costly to produce or had low ratings and the networks decided not to bring them back this season- although they may not return next season.
In the case of the shows above, "Friday Night Lights" and "Prison Break" have both been renewed for next season, whereas "Men in Trees'" fate has yet to be determined, although it does still have pre-strike episodes left that are set to air this season.
"24"-another veteran show not returning this season-won't be returning until January. Due to the nature of the show, Fox decided it would be best to air it when it can run without interruption. According to TV Guide, there will, however, be a TV movie, set to air this fall, that will fill in the gap in time between seasons six and seven.
So there you have it, the details of the world, post-writers' strike. Bounce for joy or mourn accordingly.
