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TV networks are considering a postponement of the September launch of the fall season as a last resort, should an actors strike materialize.
“We have talked to executives (and) privately, they say, ‘That’s a possibility we’re looking at,’” according to the Hollywood Reporter TV writer, Nellie Andreeva (via Reuters).
About half of prime time dramas and sitcoms are shooting for the fall, which will allow networks to stockpile at least a handful of new shows, in the event of a work stoppage, one studio insider said. About 24 new shows will have two or three original episodes ready, including Heroes, House, CSI, ER and My Name Is Earl. Others, including Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives, will not.
Still, studio insiders are saying the reason for working through the summer and stockpiling episodes is more a result of eagerness to remain back at work after so much time off from the actors strike than it is an effort to be prepared for a new strike. Hollywood insiders believe another work stoppage is unlikely, given the fatigue that still remains as an effect of the writers strike.
The Screen Actors Guild and major film and TV studios are still in contract talks, but negotiations have grown rancorous and there is little sign that a settlement is near. SAG leaders said last week that a deal is unlikely to be reached by the June 30 deadline, and that they were considering whether to seek permission of members to call a strike.
Again, industry insiders think there is little likelihood that they could muster the 75 percent majority vote it needs in order to authorize a strike.
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