Fox unveils midseason scheduling ideas, while other networks try pressure on showrunners.

By Jonathan Zipper

NEW YORK (Hollywood Today) 11/8/07 – Series showrunners joined the scribes’ picket lines Wednesday morning, forcing even more shows to halt production on stockpiled material.

Although many programs have scripts ready and prepped for filming, without the showrunners, a group consisting of those with a dual role in management and often writing who deal with day-to-day production, studios cannot proceed. While the war continues to rage, the producers attempted to win the battle by sending out a letter to showrunners threatening legal action and job termination.

For the time being, the showrunners seem committed to their WGA counterparts, looking to give them a stronger bargaining chip. “We will gladly return to our jobs the day that the producers return to the negotiating table,” an insider revealed to Variety.

With productions shut down indefinitely, Fox is revamping its midseason strategy. The network announced that “24” will not premiere until it can run the complete seventh season uninterrupted.

“We had to make some tough decisions quickly for a variety of reasons,” said Fox scheduling chief Preston Beckman. “The viewers have told us that this is a show that needs to be digested with minimal, if any, interruptions.”

If the strike ends sooner than later, Fox could still air “24” during the spring. However, if networks endure a lengthy walkout like the 1988 strike, the show could be pre-empted until next season entirely. By then, star Kiefer Sutherland’s DUI troubles should also disappear.

The potential loss of “24” forces Fox to replace the Monday 9 p.m. time-slot with freshman series “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” in January. “Prison Break” will stay on as a lead-in at 8 p.m. through March instead of taking a hiatus in early 2008.

“House” fans will still see their favorite TV doctor on Tuesdays after “American Idol,” but only until the April 1 return of reality cooking competition “Hell’s Kitchen.”

“We’ve been preparing for this for months and started production on ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ early in anticipation of a work stoppage,” said Beckman. “We feel this is a show that deserves a shot to go to the next level.”

Fox is also facing an immediate scheduling concern with “Family Guy,” as creator Seth MacFarlane, who also voices many of the characters, joined fellow showrunners in the WGA protests. There is only one completed episode yet to air, and even with a backlog of scripts ready for production, MacFarlane believes having others fill-in for him would be a vital mistake.

“They could, but it would be unwise,” MacFarlane said. “Because I would be angry.”

Chances are fans would also be outraged, but the good news for the network is that “Family Guy” manages to still attract viewers during repeats.

Having successfully targeted the “Desperate Housewives” set in Toluca Lake a day earlier, picket lines traveled on Wednesday to Malibu, where the “Grey’s Anatomy” spin-off “Private Practice” films. Creator Shonda Rimes explained that both programs have at least three episodes ready to go, but she refuses to be a strikebreaker.

Other writer-producers taking a similar stance to Rimes include Sylvio Horta (“Ugly Betty”) and Greg Berlanti (“Brothers & Sisters,” “Dirty Sexy Money”). Berlanti’s decision to remain at bay is on a week-by-week basis.

“For every episode we produce, writers are going to get paid, and I want my writers to be able to survive,” he told Variety.

While writers on both coasts echo Berlanti’s concerns, their plan is to continue what they have started, holding out for a fair contract.

“The longer it lasts, the more people will suffer,” New York writer Daley Haggar told Hollywood Today. “We’re willing to be here as long as we need.”