Strikewatch: Daisies Season Could Be Done; Housewives Still Hopeful

By Kristin Dos Santos Jan 29, 2008 11:12 PMTags
Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Pushing DaisiesABC/Scott Garfield

It's official. Everyone in this town has heard from someone—their writer friend, agent or dog sitter's ex-boyfriend—that the strike "should" end sometime this week (as evidenced by the comments to yesterday's "Rumor Patrol" story).

I wanted to let you know that at this point, we TV fans should be cautiously optimistic—with a big emphasis on the word cautiously. Because despite the rampant rumor that "the end is coming," a few inside sources report today that they have heard the latest WGA/AMPTP proposed deal has not been accepted. So, let's hope for the best but...you know the rest.

What's more, I'm hearing from a few show-runner types that it may already be (hope you're sitting down for this) too late for some series to put together more episodes for the current season, including one particular show we fans adore: Pushing Daisies.

AP Photo/Nick Ut

"Lots of talk has been going down this past week," Daisies boss Bryan Fuller told me earlier today. "Essentially, even if the strike is resolved in the next week or two, we wouldn't be back until next season. There was a preliminary conversation that involved a plan to hit the ground running and try to get episodes on the air as soon as possible, but it no longer seems like that's going to happen. It seems most likely that we will have a very short first season and then come back in the fall for a proper season two."

Ned and Chuck and Olive, we'll miss ye.

On the flip side, other shows seem to be holding out some hope that they will be able to produce more episodes if the strike ends soon, such as Desperate Housewives honcho Marc Cherry.

John Heller/WireImage.com

"It depends upon when the strike ends," Cherry told me Sunday at the SAG Awards, "but if it were very soon, I think maybe I could cram in seven episodes [before the end of the season]. It would take us about two weeks to get back into production. I'm chomping at the bit. The moment the starting pistol is fired, I'm off and running. I'm ready to go, I just need the okay [from the union]."

L. Cohen/WireImage.com

Supernatural boss Eric Kripke told me: "If the strike ends by mid-February, we could probably still gear up and get two or three episodes done. If it ends tomorrow, which it won't, we could do three or four. With any luck, the strike will be over in time for us to bang out a couple more."

Meanwhile, SAG president Alan Rosenberg (whose union supports the WGA) had this to say: "I know the DGA deal is on the table, and people are sort of anointing that as the solution to everything, but I think we have some work left to do."

Here's hoping that work gets done very soon.

--Additional reporting by Jennifer Godwin