Wednesday, December 26, 2007

How Long Before Your Favorite TV Shows Go Dark?

[UPDATED 12/20/07] There seems to be little doubt that the writers' strike will result in a shorter TV season, but just how short are we talking? Well, as you might've guessed, it varies from show to show. Those programs that are either highly efficient (Friday Night Lights) or have entered the season with a backlog of episodes (Men in Trees, Law & Order: SVU) will be in originals well into the new year. But series with tighter production schedules (i.e., nearly every half-hour comedy) will go dark almost immediately. Of course, figuring out how many episodes remain in your favorite shows' arsenals requires a lot of numbers crunching — and as I've come to learn, the only thing you Ausholes despise more than a Wednesday without AA is mathematics. With that in mind, I pulled together this incredibly handy (and 85 percent complete) cheat sheet. Keep in mind: The information below is subject to change, particularly if both sides get back to the bargaining table and resolve this frakkin' thing! (For ongoing WGA strike coverage, read TVGuide.com's Strike Watch blog.)



  • 30 Rock: Ten episodes will be produced. Nine episodes have aired, so there is one left.

  • Aliens in America: Seventeen episodes will be produced. Ten episodes have aired, so there are seven left.

  • Back to You: Nine episodes will be produced. Seven episodes have aired, so there are two left.

  • The Big Bang Theory: Eight episodes were produced. Eight episodes have aired, so there are zero left.

  • Bionic Woman: Eight episodes will be produced. Eight episodes have aired, so there is zero left.

  • Bones: Twelve episodes will be produced. Nine episodes have aired, so there are three left.

  • Boston Legal: Fourteen episodes will be produced. Ten episodes have aired, so there are four left.

  • Brothers & Sisters: Twelve episodes will be produced. Nine episodes have aired, so there are three left.

  • Carpoolers: Thirteen episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are seven left.Cavemen: Thirteen episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are seven left.

  • Chuck: Thirteen episodes will be produced. Eleven episodes have aired, so there are two left.

  • Criminal Minds: Roughly twelve episodes will be produced. Eleven episodes have aired, so there is roughly one left.

  • CSI: Eleven episodes will be produced. Ten episodes have aired, so there is one left.

  • CSI: NY: Fourteen episodes will be produced. Eleven episodes have aired, so there are three left.

  • Desperate Housewives: Ten episodes will be produced. Nine episodes have aired, so there is one left

  • Dirty Sexy Money: Thirteen episodes will be produced. Ten episodes have aired, so there are three left.

  • ER: Thirteen episodes will be produced. Nine episodes have aired, so there are four left.

  • Friday Night Lights: Fifteen episodes will be produced. Nine episodes have aired, so there are six left.

  • Gossip Girl: Thirteen episodes will be produced. Eleven episodes have aired, so there are two left.

  • Greek: Eight new episodes will be produced. None have aired yet, so there are eight left.

  • Grey's Anatomy: Eleven episodes will be produced. Ten episodes have aired, so there is one left.

  • Heroes: Eleven episodes will be produced. Eleven episodes have aired, so there is zero left.

  • House: Twelve episodes will be produced. Nine episodes have aired, so there are three left.

  • How I Met Your Mother: Eleven episodes will be produced. Eleven episodes have aired, so there are zero left.

  • Jericho: Seven episodes will be produced. None have aired yet, so there are seven episodes left.

  • Las Vegas: Nineteen episodes will be produced. Eleven have aired, so there are eight left.

  • Law & Order: SVU: Fourteen episodes will be produced. Ten episodes have aired, so there are four left.

  • Life is Wild: Twelve episodes will be produced. Nine episodes have aired, so there are three left.

  • Lost: Eight episodes will be produced. None have aired yet, so there are eight episodes left.

  • Medium: Nine episodes will be produced. None have aired yet, so there are nine episodes left.

  • Men in Trees: Nineteen episodes will be produced. Eight episodes have aired, so there are 11 left.

  • My Name is Earl: Thirteen episodes will be produced (that includes two one-hour eps, which count double). Twelve episodes have aired, so there is one left.

  • The New Adventures of Old Christine: Eight episodes have been produced. No episodes have aired, so there are eight left.

  • Numbers: Twelve episodes will be produced. Ten have aired, so there is two left.

  • The Office: Twelve half-hour episodes will be produced. Twelve half-hour episodes have aired, so there are zero half-hour episodes left.

  • One Tree Hill: Twelve episodes will be produced. None have aired yet, so there are twelve episodes left.

  • Prison Break: Thirteen episodes will be produced. Eight episodes have aired, so there are five left. (On hiatus 'til Jan. 14)

  • Private Practice: Nine episodes will be produced. Nine episodes have aired, so there are zero left.

  • Pushing Daisies: Nine episodes will be produced. Nine episodes have aired, so there are zero left.

  • Reaper: Twelve episodes will be produced. Ten episodes have aired, so there are two left.

  • Samantha Who?: Twelve episodes will be produced. Nine episodes have aired, so there are three left.

  • Scrubs: Eleven episodes will be produced. Six episodes have aired, so there are five left.

  • Shark: Twelve episodes will be produced. Eleven episodes have aired, so there is one left.

  • The Shield: All 13 season-seven episodes will be completed. None have aired (the final season gets underway in '08), so there are 13 left

  • Smallville: Fifteen episodes will be produced. Nine episodes have aired, so there are six left.

  • Supernatural: Ten to 12 episodes will be produced. Seven episodes have aired, so there are two to four left.

  • Ugly Betty: Thirteen episodes will be produced. Ten episodes have aired, so there are three left.

  • Without a Trace: Twelve episodes will be produced. Ten episodes have aired, so there are two left.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Makes me glad to be Australian! We get mmany of the good shows but we're are at least a year behind so we have plenty of episodes left!!!

Anonymous said...

It's gutting to know that when CSI starts in a couple of weeks here in the UK there will only half a season to watch. Plus it means that so many story lines end up being half-arsed instead of completed.