The Hollywood writers' strike [1] entered its second week today, and so far, no new talks have been scheduled between the writers and producers. The industry buzz suggests we should get used to it: The strike could be even longer than the five-month strike [2] in 1988. The walkout is hitting non-writing crew members, and the outcomes are starting to look bleak all around (except over at Fox, where executives believe the strike could be good [3] for the network). Here are some of the headlines from the strike's second week:

• Scrubs [4] creator Bill Lawrence refused to write an emergency series finale [5] for his show, and it's not clear what would happen to the unwritten final seven episodes of the series if a strike continues.
• When The Office [6] shut down production, 102 non-writing staff members were laid off. [7]
• Meanwhile, the staffs of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien will be laid off at the end of the week [8] unless the strike ends or the shows decide to come back — either with their regular hosts or with guest hosts. [9]
• Lost [10] executive producer Damon Lindelof has witten an op-ed for the New York Times [11] about the death of television.
• Gabrielle Union was working on a deal to play Wilhemina's sister [12] on Ugly Betty [13] before the strike scuttled those plans.
• Here's a very detailed list [14] of how many episodes of various series are yet to air.
• Variety explains how the strike could affect next year's Emmy Awards. [15]

Among the newest people trying to explain the issues behind the strike: Buffy creator Joss Whedon. [16] Want to hear him try to make sense of things? Just




Source [17]