is the strike all struck?

Well we’re almost there… This weekend the WGA has reached a tentative deal with the Alliance of Producers that would include terms that apparently look agreeable, including compensation for works distributed online. They’ll officially vote on Tuesday but folks are expected to rev things up starting today for the writers to be back as early as Wednesday.

So what does this mean for tv? Well some of the shows are hoping to ramp back up to finish out some episodes this season and some won’t be back until next year. Not so much a consideration as to the shows long term prospects, more based on that fact that shows like half hour sitcoms are quicker and easier to gear back up. Though of course there are a few casualties that just aren’t going to be back, but you can’t blame the strike for no more Bionic Woman or Big Shots. For a regularly updated list of back to work plans, TV Guide has a nice page of expectations per show.

And it looks like there will in fact be a fall season, but the strike, among other costs concerns, is making the studios lean towards a leaner season. Typically they spend a lot of time developing a lot of scripts and producing more pilots than they would ever use. So will fewer development deals be merely a more critical eye and more cost effective displays of direction? Or will fewer things developed turn out the same percentage of good ones, meaning we’ll just see fewer gems?

And of course for the Oscars the show will go on, which was always going to be the case, but I’m not sure what Plan B was really looking like… So Jon Stewart may have a little less time to get his jokes polished, but thanks to the fashion gods for smiling on us, we’ll have a real red carpet.

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