It'll be almost a year before a new day dawns for "24." "You'll definitely not see it until next year," Szalai said. "That show traditionally comes back early in the year and it's a show that requires 24 episodes at the get-go. They won't bring it back over the summer. They'll want to run it as one big block of content next January." Plus, with Fox leading the ratings race with "American Idol," there's no reason for them to rush to get Jack Bauer up and running in '08.
"Lost" fans found new episodes of the hit ABC drama two weeks ago, but it's unclear whether they'll stumble on more when the shortened season wraps up after its eight-week run. "If they get into production now, they can probably get in a few more episodes before the season ends in May," Szalai said. But even if that happens, "Lost" may struggle to regain time lost in the remainder of the series' life. "We don't know if they're going to do the whole 48 episodes or just condense everything into a smaller number of episodes," Bianculli said.
Will Vinnie, Ari and the rest of the boys be back soon? Hopefully, and potentially as soon as this spring/summer. "'Entourage' might be fine," Bianculli said. "A strike isn't going to affect HBO as much as it affects a broadcast network with a more set rhythm." But then again, Aquaman fans are at the mercy of the cable network and its sometimes erratic programming schedules. "We've waited eight vernal equinoxes for a new 'Sopranos,' Bianculli added. "I don't know how many episodes they've produced of this season."
Good news for Dunder Mifflin fans: Michael Scott will resume mismanaging his troops in Scranton soon enough. The half-hour comedy is one of the easiest types of shows to get up and running in a short amount of time. "'The Office' you'll see back before the spring season," Szalai said. "I would assume that NBC could bring it back sometime in April, and they'll still have April and May to run new episodes."
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