User:Duggy 1138/Sandbox

The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike was a labor conflict that affected a large number of television shows that were due to be broadcast in the United States during the 2007-08 television season. Negotiators for the striking writers reached a tentative agreement on February 8, 2008, and the boards of both guilds unanimously approved the deal on February 10, 2008. Striking writers voted on February 12, 2008, to end the strike immediately and will vote again later in February on whether to accept the new agreement itself.

Prime-time series

 * Mid-season shows, such as Dirt and The Riches, began production after most other TV shows, so they have completed fewer episodes to date. As a result, there will be fewer episodes to air for each of these shows. 24, also airing mid-season, will be postponed due to the serial nature of the show.
 * For shows without full-season pickups such as Moonlight and Cane, production on the first batch of shows has been completed.
 * Production for Heroes: Origins has been postponed as a result of the strike.
 * Although seven scripts are in for ABC series Cashmere Mafia, the network has delayed the show's premiere date from the original late November premiere.
 * Scrubs may not be able to air a series finale as only 12 of its 18 order episodes have been filmed. Creator Bill Lawrence has stated he will either release the finale on DVD, as he said in an interview, or will post what would have happened in episodes 13 through 18 on the internet.
 * NBC is considering airing the original British version of The Office in place of the American version.
 * During the strike, ABC's Dirty Sexy Money was given a full season order. NBC also gave full season orders to Life, and Chuck and also announced that, contrary to recurring rumor, Bionic Woman would also continue production after the strike.
 * FX Network's The Shield is one of the few shows that will actually be able to air the entire season, as it was mostly wrapped before the strike started. Similarly, CBS's returning series, Jericho is scheduled to air midseason. Production of the full season was completed prior to the strike and it will not be affected by the work stoppage.
 * There is also a rumor that NBC will simulcast new episodes of Discovery shows, including popular shows Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs.
 * Several television shows, including Journeyman, Cane, K-Ville, Big Shots, and Cavemen, were all "quietly" cancelled in part, due to the writer's strike in addition to the perpetual low ratings.

Talk shows
Late night comedy shows such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and Saturday Night Live began airing reruns immediately. Last Call resumed airing on December 3, with host Carson Daly explaining that if he did not do so, his staff would have been fired. As of January 2, 2008, the Tonight Show and Late Night have returned on NBC with new episodes. Conan O'Brien has stated "An unwritten version of 'Late Night,' though not desirable, is possible -- and no one has to be fired."

On November 12, 2007, instead of a recent episode, NBC aired an episode of The Tonight Show from November 17, 2003. Beginning the week of November 26, The Tonight Show began continuously airing "vintage" episodes. The Tonight Show was reportedly planning to air new episodes beginning November 19, having guest hosts to fill in for Jay Leno. This did not occur, however.

Several talk show hosts who have refused to do their shows have announced that they will pay non-striking staff members out of their own pockets through the end of the year, including David Letterman and Conan O'Brien. Jay Leno was chided when NBC fired his non-striking staff, after he promised them they would not have to worry about their jobs. Leno has since announced that he will also pay his staff for the next 2 weeks starting December 2, 2007.

The striking writers of The Late Show have opened their own weblog, lateshowwritersonstrike.com, dealing with the strike and other events. In addition, the writers of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart scripted their own four-minute version of the show that dealt with the strike (they filmed it in front of one such demonstration) and posted it on YouTube. The video also references the current Viacom vs. Google Inc. lawsuit.

David Letterman and his Worldwide Pants, Inc. production company broke ranks with the networks and negotiated its own independent contract with the WGA in late 2007. The deal is independent and only between the production company and the union, and allows the company to start new shows in 2008.

Other
Although many animated series employ union writers, there is no requirement to do so. For instance, the writers of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, are not union members, and the show remains in production.

TV movies, such as High School Musical 3, are directly affected by the strike, including those filmed on location. However, the strike does not affect reality shows such as American Idol, whose episodes are unscripted, or news programs, whose writers belong to a different guild. Nevertheless, newswriters at CBS News and at local CBS owned-and-operated television stations (as well as CBS Radio news entities) were subject to the threat of a different strike action by the WGA. CBS News writers under the WGA had been without a contract with the network since April 2005 until a contract was agreed to on January 9, 2008.

Similarly, some game shows, such as Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and The Price Is Right, are not affected because they are unscripted, other than the questions and the prize descriptions; by contrast, Sony Pictures' Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, and Disney's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire have their quiz questions researched and written by WGA writers under deals with their producers. New versions of Password and American Gladiators, in addition to other game, contest and reality shows, may launch sooner than originally scheduled in order to minimize the amount of scripted-program reruns, and CBS announced on January 24, 2008, they have commissioned an order of six The Price Is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular episodes, the first in the primetime series with host Drew Carey.

While the strike would obviously have no effect on sporting events (which are unscripted), the strike has no effect on scripted professional wrestling, as both World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling have in-house ununionized writers. WWE in fact, who has a contract with NBC, has offered the network additional wrestling shows for the main network if they need it.