Reruns and cheapo fare will rule -- as if it's July

Acouple of months back, this column predicted that if a writers strike did come to pass, the networks would soon turn to two Rs: reality and repeats.

Guess what? Soon is here.

Talks between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down again late Friday, leaving no end in sight for the 5-week-old writers strike.

Viewers have already seen the strike's effect on late-night shows -- most of which have been in repeat mode since Nov. 5 -- but when the typically rerun-heavy holiday month of December ends, they'll start seeing major disruptions in prime time as well. The supply of scripted shows has run out on such popular fare as "Heroes," "Private Practice" and many others that premiered in September. So a few weeks after Christmas, flat screens across the land will start filling with such quality fare as "American Gladiators," "Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann" and "Power of 10."

As one media buyer told this column last week, it's going to look a lot more like July, when reruns and cheapo unscripted stuff typically rule, than January.

The strike always threatened to roil midseason programming, and now it's poised to cause dismay and dyspepsia in both broadcasters and viewers -- everyone except for Fox, of course, whose behemoth "American Idol" is set to return Jan. 15.

Other networks, which are used to the "Idol" problem, are now adjusting to the fact that they're going to have to make do for a long while with a sharply diminished arsenal of fresh scripted shows.

A few debuts will crop up here and there, such as Fox's "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (its two-night premiere starts Jan. 13), NBC's "Lipstick Jungle" (Feb. 7) and ABC's "Cashmere Mafia" (no premiere date announced yet). And then there's a lucky case like CW's sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris," which wrapped its season of 22 episodes early, leaving an enviable supply of 12 episodes still unaired.

But for the most part, schedulers are being forced to make like a jazz combo and improvise, not just for midseason but also for next fall. The pilot season, when new programs are traditionally developed and tested, will have to be scuttled if the strike isn't settled by mid-February at the latest, network execs agree. New York's so-called upfront market, where the bulk of ad time is sold starting in May, might be threatened too.