TV Series "24" Cancelled Due To Writers Strike. "Lost" Still On Air

Fox on Wednesday became the first broadcast network to announce a strike-affected mid-season schedule minus its signature drama "24" according to a Hollywood Reporter article.

Faced with the possibility of a partial Season 7 of "24," Fox has opted not to air the real-time drama at all this season. "It's not a decision we wanted to make, but it's one based on how we feel the viewers expect us to schedule the show," said Preston Beckman, Fox's scheduling chief.

The decision to act quickly so early in the strike also was prompted by the large amounts of marketing money associated with the premieres of new series and the annual launch of "24." The network began airing promos for the upcoming season of "24" during the World Series and on a big screen in Times Square.

For now, ABC is still sticking to its plan to air heavily serialized "Lost" in midseason, running the eight produced episodes, 10 short of the 18-episode order.

Fox's high-profile new drama "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," originally slated to run in tandem with "24," will now premiere Sunday, Jan. 13, and will air in "24's" Monday 9 p.m. time slot, following "Prison Break" and new reality series "When Women Ruled the World."

Fueled by "American Idol," which will launch with a two-night, four-hour premiere Jan. 15-16, and helped buy the fact it only programs 15 hours a week, Fox has been considered the best equipped to handle a long writers strike.

Other developments related to the writer strike:

• NBC's "The Office" officially shut down production Wednesday after its star Steve Carell and several other cast members refused to cross the picket line Monday and Tuesday, effectively bringing filming of the hit comedy to a halt. Several "Office" writers, including showrunner Greg Daniels, posted a video shot on the picket line on YouTube.

• With the exception of "Scrubs," which is slated to film for awhile, all comedy series still in production are slated to wrap shooting their available scripts by early next week, followed by dramas, which will go on hiatus by the end of the month, laying off thousands of crew members.

(Image care of Fox.com)