The writer's strike: Gay TV update

Last Friday we posted on the writer's strike and its potential impact on some gay fave TV shows.

The walkout officially began on Monday. It's the first industrywide strike by writers since 1988. That strike lasted five months, and a lot of folks believe the current walkout could last as long or longer. The battle between the writers and the studios boils down to compensation for digital delivery of content. (Just before the strike, the union dropped its other demand for increased compensation for DVD sales - but got no counteroffer/concession from the studios on the digital issue.)

Both sides are digging in their heels and settling in for a long fight. We have some more specific information as to how that will affect some of your favorite shows:

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. These two gems are already in repeats. If the strike drags on into 2008, Comedy Central has hinted that The Daily Show show might come back in a predominantly interview driven format. (There's an important election coming up and the nation will need its fake news!).

Note: on Monday there was a story circulating that, even though his show has been shut down, Jon Stewart would personally be paying his writers their salaries for the next two weeks. Turns out that is not in fact the case. Stewart's reps have denied the rumor.

Brothers & Sisters According to comments from Jon Robin Baitz, the show will be able to complete production on the 11th episode. This episode would air in early January. If the writer's strike continues that would mean only 5 more Brothers & Sisters episodes for the season.

Ugly Betty. It's a slightly rosier picture. According to comments from showrunner/head writer Silvio Horta, they are just wrapping up post-production on episode 13. With six shows already aired, at least that means you'll have seven more to look forward to this season.

As the World Turns. The show has enough scripts in the hopper to get them into January of 2008. Let's hope that's enough time to get Luke over his temporalysis® and back in the arms of Noah. Back during the 1988 writer's strike some soap operas limped along with scab writers. But according to the New York Times, this time around the networks are looking at a mixture of news and sports programming to fill the void. Which would mean no more Nuke after January! And perhaps more importantly, no more Hotprechauns™.

Desperate Housewives. It's being reported that they've officially stopped production, with only three unaired shows in the can. With showrunner Marc Cherry supporting the strike (not to mention Eva Longoria, who brought picketers pizza), the December 2nd "twister episode" of Desperate Housewives (which leaves a regular character dead) may serve as the season finale. Of course, as soon as the gays arrive the party gets busted...

Dirty Sexy Money. Our pal Maureen Ryan over at the Chicago Tribune ran some comments from Craig Wright, who noted that the 10th episode of the season ("The Nutcracker") might be the last.

Assuming this strike drags on, do you have any intel/predictions on the fate of your favorite shows? Please share in the comments.