The Strike Thing!

[galathea]

So, I thought we could have a thread for news on how the WGA strike affects the production of Supernatural and for statements and interviews on the topic from the writers/producers from the fence, so we are up to date.

In her interview with CW Source just before the strike went into affect Sera Gamble stated:

CW: How many episodes do you have written?
SG: I just did a bunch of rewriting on episode 11, and I believe they are close to or at production draft for episode 12. Episode 13, I don't think it's going to be finished by the time we have to walk off the job.

So the rumours that they have about 5 scripts in advance are a bit exaggerated.

Kripke himself told SN fans from the 'Feed the Writers' campaign in an interview yesterday that they are still in production. They have two scripts left to shoot and then they will be out of material, leaving them at a total of 12 episodes so far. He hopes the strike will be resolved in the next couple of weeks so that they can air new eps in January without missing a beat. If the strike is resolved later, but not much later, they could end up with a shortened season. If it goes on for a long time... all bets are off.

He also stated that so far they have been able to keep their writers' assistants. A lot of shows have not been so lucky but Kripke said that he keeps telling the studio how much they are still needed in the office so that they can continue to get pay checks.

Let's hope that strike will be resolved soon, with a good solution for the writers. :)

[ciderdrinker]

I was wondering, how a prolonged strike may affect Supernatural? It's already been seen that shows on thin ice have been cancelled, and I'm fairly certain I've heared someone say that they believed this could be SN's last season.

If that is true, and they can't make more than 11 or 12 shows this year, does that mean it will automatically be picked up next year and have a season 4 because of a short season 3? I don't want to think of the alternative, but is it possible that after a short S3 that's it - we get no resolve at all (I'm thinking of Tru Calling's ending here) That would be terribly frustrating because of all the plot strands that have been started on S3.

[Llywela]

I think that's what we're all afraid of, to be honest. The long-term consequences of the strike are pretty terrifying for more than one show that's on the bubble or new and not established yet. But I don't think there are any answers just yet - all we can do is wait and see and hope. And keep all our fingers and toes crossed! :err:

It does seem likely that unless the strike is resolved soon, we will only get around 12 episodes of Supernatural this season, which is an awful thought :( but more than many other shows are getting. Thank heavens they work that far in advance! Some are only a couple of weeks ahead and won't get more than 6/7.

[galathea]

Truth is, we simply don't know. From Kripke's interview I gather that even he doesn't know about the fate of the show should the strike be going on for longer than a couple of weeks. We do know that they were ordered for a full 22 episode season for S3 right from the start. I don't know if that's a contract that the CW would be obligated to fulfill in case the strike will cut the season short, but I doubt it.

Personally I do think that it is entirely possible that SN will get cancelled if the strike goes on for months, leaving us completely hanging without resolve to the ongoing plotlines. We have to factor some variables in though: If the writers are on strike for a long time there will be no new scripts for Pilots for the next season, which means, the networks would either have to completely do without new scripted shows for fall 2008 or switch 100% to reality tv and alike. We can try to be positive and assume that the networks don't really want that. In that prospect already established shows with an audience that is willing to come back after an extended hiatus may stand a better chance to return than the new shows that started this October.

On the other hand it's pretty well known that the CW president Dawn Ostroff isn't exactly fond of SN and presumably looks for a reason to get rid of the show anyway and might take an extended strike as an excuse to finally cut the cord.

So all we can do is hope for the best!

[Rosely]

I'm more positive then that :)
I'm actually quite sure that even if we get a shorter season because of longer hiatus, that's a problem that many many shows are dealing with. Populair shows like CSI have already stopped airing and Grey's Anatomy had only 1 episode left (if I heard correctly). So If all the shows are in the same boat, why would the network cancel them all?
The only solution would be indeed reality tv... no quality at all.. I can't believe that would happen. And since so many shows are participating... I don't think SN would get sacked.

Still.. hopefully the strike gets solved sooooon... we want more eps, not less! ;)

[Willow's Tara]

Wait, SN has a chance of being cancelled? That's so sad, it seems all supernatural shows are leaving. Glad Buffy, Angel and Charmed ended when they did now.
Rosely- No! No reality shows, I am already sick of the ones that are on, if they fill up the entire week all I will have to watch is Home and Away and Neighbours because they are Australian soaps, most other things I watch ar elike from the US...

[slaycandy]

I'd hope that if shows were going to get cancelled that Dawn Ostroff could find weaker shows on the CW to get rid of opposed to Supernatural - Reaper for example, of which I watched about 2 episodes before giving up on completely. I know it's been said a lot of the new series are in danger of getting picked up, and if so, then the CW would already be losing the likes of Reaper, Gossip Girl, (I don't know what other new shows they had :S) and so surely they would keep the likes of Smallville and Supernatural their 'returning' series, because if they lost those, then it really would just be reality tv to fill the gap.

I don't know much about this strike at all, and not living in the states am not actually up on what all airs on the CW, but I'd hope that Dawn's personal distaste for a show wouldn't result in it getting cancelled, if other shows wind up getting dropped.

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for SPN, and that the writers managed to get this resolved.
SJ
xox

[Rosely]

I'm not sure if it's true. But I heard on the news today that the strike will only last 1,5 weeks longer.

So that would be good news :)

Anyone else know anything about this?

[galathea]

I'm not sure if it's true. But I heard on the news today that the strike will only last 1,5 weeks longer.

So that would be good news :)

Anyone else know anything about this? We can't say yet! It's only known that the factions will get together for new negotiations on 26th of November. If we are lucky and they come to an agreement then, it would be possible that the show will resume shooting according to schedule and we would be blessed with a full season! *crosses fingers*

[galathea]

On the newsfront: Supernatural will officially close production on December, 5th, if the strike isn't resolved before that. That's just temporary though, if the strike comes to a close in the next couple of weeks, they will resume shooting.

A fan talked to Kripke today and here is what he had to say about the production:

He (Kripke) was happy that the talks were scheduled for Monday, but even if they came to an agreement Monday night, that would still put production behind. However, if the talks did reach fruition in the next 2 weeks, that chance of them losing only 1 show this season, rather than more, is increased. As it is, if they begin production again in Jan at the earliest, that will set them behind and they could snowball losing a show a month due to the delay in prep. So, at this rate, we will almost certainly have a 21 epi season, instead of the standard 22, but we both agreed we could live with that (compared to the alternative)! And I think he was only half joking when he said that if they get the matter closed in the next few weeks (before the official Hollywood Holiday shutdown) he'd make sure everyone came in over the holidays anyway to prep for the show.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/supernatural_tv/1281201.html