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How I Met Your Mother creator Carter Bays has a really huge problem. ''It's been a long strike,'' he admits. ''I can barely remember all our characters' names, much less what we were planning to do with them. Is our show the one with Jim and Pam? If so, we'll probably have them hook up. Awkward!''
Actually, Carter, that would be The Office — but hey, it's great to hear you talking about getting back to work. As EW went to press Tuesday night (Feb. 5), buzz that the 13-week-old writers' strike would soon end hit a fever pitch after a marathon negotiation session between the moguls and the Writers Guild of America brass. Finally, Hollywood is beginning to imagine a scenario that could salvage at least part of the 2007–08 TV season — including Feb. 24's Oscar ceremony.
Should the labor dispute that's cost $1.9 billion to date and put 11,000 people out of work end as early as next week — a distinct possibility at press time — the prevailing wisdom says it will take anywhere from two to four weeks to resume production on existing comedies and dramas. Grey's Anatomy could start filming by early March and complete roughly four or five new episodes before the season ends in May. Lost faces a similar situation. Ugly Betty exec producer Silvio Horta thinks he can wrap four more episodes by then — but with some much-needed tweaks: He had mapped out a 23-episode arc that now has to be whittled down to 17. ''We would definitely need to change storylines,'' he says. ''I know where we're going to end up, but there's going to have to be some major readjustment to get there.''
Established comedies like CBS' Two and A Half Men and How I Met Your Mother can get up and running quicker than most first-year series, which is why both sitcoms should be able to complete up to seven installments. Things look just as promising for newer programs like Fox's Back to You and ABC's Samantha Who? (which could both air up to nine new episodes). Three pre-strike episodes of Samantha remain unaired and could ostensibly return in the series' original plum post–Dancing With the Stars slot sometime after the hooferfest returns in mid-March. First-year drama Gossip Girl aims to be back on the CW in late April, and could complete its 22-episode first season by running original hours through the summer.
NEXT: What's on tap for Heroes and 24.
