Emmy-nominated actress Elisabeth Moss will guest star on NBC's medical drama Mercy, TV Guide Network's Hollywood 411 reported exclusively.
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The Mad Men actress will play...
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[SPOILER ALERT: Do not read this article if you don't want to know how Scrubs will change this season.]
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Question: I know soaps aren't your beat, but perhaps you've heard something: Have any of the soaps run out of scripts yet? I heard at the start of the writers' strike that most shows had scripts stockpiled until January. And I understand that writers in the 1988 strike made undercover drops of scripts (in alleys and on dark street corners) to keep their shows running. But I've heard nothing since. What's happening?
Answer: From what I understand about it, which isn't a lot, the daytime soaps did stockpile several months' worth of material before the strike, and it's unclear which and how many shows have entirely used up their inventory. Since then, some writers have returned to work under a special provision and some shows may have kept going by bending if not breaking the rules to keep the lights on. Understandably, no one's going out of their way to shed light on the process, though the New York Times did attempt to explain the situation in a story earlier this week. The bottom lin ...
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Question: With the writers and producers expected to finally come back to the negotiating table, what is the chance that I'll see new episodes of my favorite shows again this season? Since this strike has lasted so long, it seems unlikely that shows will be able to get new episodes out before May. Please tell me I'm wrong and that I won't have to wait until September to indulge in television again.
Answer: This is still a tricky issue, and it's all a matter of timing. In the best-case scenario, if the directors' deal opens the window for the writers and producers to make more progress in their resumed negotiations and close their own deal sooner than later — say, hopefully, by mid-February — then it is conceivable that production could resume and we could get a batch of new episodes to finish out the season, in April and May, at least in time for sweeps. This would also help ensure a summer season and the possibility of a new season beginning on schedule in the fall (that is, if th ...
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Question: TaMara's comment (and your response) about the strike seemed overly optimistic. Maybe in a prior age, people would run back to books and, er, "other" activities, but it seems more likely that people who once spent their time staring at a television set may now spend it staring at the computer screen. Which brings up an intriguing possibility: Could the writers' strike (especially if the issues surrounding it lead other Hollywood unions to strike) be the impetus that sends television essentially the way of the radio and makes the Internet even more mainstream than it is already, to the point that it possibly replaces television as the dominant form of popular entertainment? Considering that the strike primarily revolves around how the Internet will affect TV, wouldn't that be ironic?
Answer: Rumors of the demise of television are no doubt premature, but there's little doubt that the convergence of the TV and computer has begun and isn't about to backslide. I still have troubl ...
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