WGA STRIKE UPDATE: FX Schedules Strike-Shortened Dirt

Cable Network Has Half-Season of Courteney Cox-Starring Show in the Can

By Anne Becker -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/8/2008 5:11:00 PM

FX set March 2 at 10 p.m. to premiere the second season of original drama Dirt -- or the one-half of it that it shot. The network banked seven of the season’s 13 episodes before the writers’ strike began and halted production.

Season one of the Courteney Cox-starring show about a tabloid magazine ran last spring to ratings decent enough for the network to order a second season in May. But as it has with all networks that program scripted fare, the writers’ strike affected FX’s scheduling, leaving the cable network with half-seasons only of Dirt and The Riches and threatening to delay production starts for new seasons of Damages and Rescue Me.

In December, FX president John Landgraf said he was frustrated that the strike was dragging on, but pointed out that with the half-seasons of those two shows, the network could still run five of its eight shows in the next half-year.

Also banked are full seasons of Morgan Spurlock reality show 30 Days and the final season of The Shield, although no premiere dates have been set for them.

Nip/Tuck, currently running in originals, is scheduled to conclude Feb. 19 with a cliffhanger, although if the strike drags on, it’s unclear when the network could begin producing that cliffhanger’s resolution.

Dirt, from ABC Studios and FX,is co-produced by Cox and husband David Arquette’s Coquette Productions.

For full coverage of the strike, click here.