TVSquad

Now that the strike is over, networks and the powers that be behind each shows are deciding how many episodes they can shoot in the coming two months or so to air by the end of May or early June. Their decision will be based on the storylines they can offer and wrap up in a small number of episodes as well as the production cost. Some series, like Heroes, that require more FX, flashy sets, more post-production time, may resume shooting in the coming weeks but those episodes will more than likely be for next season. But one thing most fans (I include myself in the lot) didn't consider in the equation to determine the number of new episodes will get are the actors' contracts.

It looks like the studios and the writers have agreed to contract terms. It will be presented to the union leaders in a few days and may lead to the end of the WGA strike which has been going on since November 5th, 2007. TV Squad has recently written that the strike may end soon.

According to the article, television producers have made February 15th the de facto deadline for putting the writers back and salvaging what's left of this television season. For movie studios, the deadline is seen as early March to prevent major disruption with the 2009 movie release schedule.

In a move that should surprise no one, Jon Stewart has extended his contract until 2010 with Comedy Central. Considering the big relaunch of The Daily Show website and the success of both this show and its spin-off The Colbert Report, I somehow didn't think they'd be letting the guy go.

I've often thought that Stewart would be a natural replacement for Letterman (and there are rumors flying around to that effect). However, to the best of my knowledge Letterman isn't retiring yet.

We know that It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia was picked up for a third season, but how did they get Danny DeVito to stick around? The video below explains everything, and if the warnings at the beginning of the video aren't enough, let me tell you upfront that the video is NOT SAFE FOR WORK and contains mature themes.

Tell you what: skip down to the bottom of this post and watch the video first, because I'm going to talk about it and I don't want to ruin any of it for you.

The spat between NBC and Apple continues. Yesterday NBC said it would terminate its contract with Apple when it expires in December, to which Apple replied that it would stop selling NBC Universal programming before the start of the fall season.

At issue is Apple's pricing scheme. But while Apple had said that NBC wanted to change the wholesale pricing of TV shows so that individual episodes could cost as much as $4.99, NBC disputes that figure.

What happens when a major content producer like NBC tells a major digital content distributor like iTunes that it wants more money per episode? If you guessed contract negotiations devolve into a hissyfit, you're right.

NBC says it will not renew its contract to sell television shows through iTunes when that contract expires in December. And Apple says that's fine by them, even though NBC is the top supplier of video content for iTunes, with popular shows like The Office, Heroes, and Battlestar Galactica.

Today, Monday September 10, 2007, TV Squad is remembering blogger Adam Finley who passed away tragically late last week. All front page posts will be staff picks of Adam's writing through the years.

NBC has extended Carson Daly's contract for two more years, which means I'll have two more years to not watch Last Call with Carson Daly.

It's not that I dislike Carson Daly. I've caught his show a few times and he's actually quite likable. The problem is that it's on really late at night and I have to get to bed early so I can wake up at sunrise and feed the chickens. This requires getting up early because I don't actually own any chickens and have to trespass onto random farms. It is my belief that all chickens are grossly underfed, but that's beyond the point.

Katee Sackhoff, who plays Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica, just inked a last-minute deal for a recurring role on NBC's Bionic Woman. She has a guest spot in the pilot as a "bad" bionic woman and you've probably noticed that she has been played up pretty heavily in NBC's promo spots for the new series. But, she only was scheduled to appear in the first few episodes... until last night. Sackhoff and NBC Universal came to a contract deal where her "bad" character will now be a recurring role.

David Eick, executive producer for both BSG and Bionic Woman, is said to have been the driving force behind that deal. Sackhoff didn't show up for this week's TCA panel on Bionic Woman because she was still negotiating a contract. A bold move, really. But not as bold as what Starbuck would've done, which is to show up drunk and start fighting with people who asked her questions about whether she's a Cylon.

Actually, they were asked to split. Ike Barinholtz and Frank Caeti did not have their contracts renewed for the show's upcoming thirteenth season. This news comes about the same time as news of comedians Johnny Sanchez and Anjelah Nicole Johnson joining the cast.

Barinholtz worked on the series for five seasons. Caeti was on for only two.

If you've ever turned on a tennis tournament on NBC, even for a few minutes, you've probably either seen or heard Bud Collins. Colorfully-dressed, exuding enthusiasm for the sport he loved, Collins always strove to make even the most casual fans into devotees. He may have even succeeded in a few cases (though for me, those little skirts Chris Evert wore on the court were what did the trick).

Unfortunately, this will be Bud's last Wimbledon for NBC, as the network has decided not to renew his contract. Collins, 78, was with NBC for 35 years. He plans on continuing to cover tennis in some fashion, because, as Collins put it, he's "too young to retire."

A few of the actors on Grey's Anatomy have said that they're not sure whether their characters will be returning for next season. In the case of T.R. Knight, his character George O'Malley failed the intern exam in the season finale, which left his fate hanging in the balance. Viewers were also left with a cliffhanger regarding Isaiah Washington's character, Dr. Burke, who appeared to have fled Seattle in the season finale. And, Katherine Heigl, who plays Izzie, has been in heated contract negotiations for some time now.

It appears things have changed... but in case you don't want spoilers, I have put the information after the jump:

Jon Lovitz recently signed a rather Faustian contract with Jamie Masada, the owner of the Laugh Factory comedy club that will require Lovitz to appear on stage at the Los Angeles club every Wednesday for the rest of his life. In addition, Lovitz will write a blog for the Laugh Factory in which he'll offer advice to young comedians.

Really? The rest of his life? That seems so depressing. Will he be bound by his contract to simply sit on the stage in a wheelchair for a twenty-minute set that consists of nothing more than drooling and an occasional story about wars he never actually fought in?

This morning, ABC announced that Lost will get three more seasons, but only 48 more episodes. That means each season will have only 16 episodes, as opposed to the traditional, full-season run of 22-23 episodes. Executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof have agreed to stick around for the final three seasons and guide the show to the ending that they want. (Each guy is reportedly getting an 8-figure deal to stick around) Of course, nothing is being said about which actors will be on the show that long.

This new end point pushes about 20 more episodes out of Cuse and Lindelof than they had hoped. Last January, the producers said they saw the show wrapping up at about episode 100, but the new deal pushes Lost's entire run to 120 episodes.

Lost fans, are you willing to wait three more years for answers? Seems like a long time...

(S11E09)

Peggy: I'll bet Minh likes foreign movies, she's a foreigner. To her, it's just a movie.

I've watched enough episodes of King of the Hill over the years to know that Dale Gribble sometimes uses the alias "Rusty Shackleford' to fly under the radar of all those conspiratorial entities that only exist in his head, but this is the first time I've heard the story behind it: "Rusty Shackleford" was the name of a kid from Dale's third grade class who passed away. At least, that's what Dale thought. It turns out that Rusty just moved away.

There's going to be a shake-up with the cast of CSI this season because a certain long-time cast member can't come to a contract agreement with CBS. That's all I'm going to say before the jump.

If you don't want the CSI season finale spoiled, stop reading now. There's no way to report this story without spoiling, so consider this your warning.

*SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP*