February 12, 2008 - With the end of the writers' strike allowing production to resume, FOX will likely extend the regular TV season past May and into the summer in order to air full or close-to-full seasons of their hit shows -- chief among them House -- says Variety. The network could simply continue airing their shows into June, or may hold some episodes until August. FOX has launched some of their fall lineup early in August in the past and executives have repeatedly stated they'd like to have more scripted series on the air throughout the year.

It's not specific yet which shows will be going back into production, but it seems comedies like 'Til Death and Back to You are strong possibilities. Bones is a bit unique among scripted series currently, in that FOX has four unaired episodes they had held on to, and were originally planning on airing in May. According to multiple sources, a decision has yet to be made on whether to produce more episodes this season for the series.

However, Variety says FOX will not be producing any more episodes of their most heavily serialized series this season, including Prison Break, 24 and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Prison Break turned what would have been their mid-season cliffhanger into a season finale, airing next week.

It's been well documented how 24, after several delays last summer, had only completed eight episodes of their seventh season when the strike began. According to Variety, after other options were considered, FOX has finally decided to simply wait until January 2009 to bring the show back for an uninterrupted season, meaning there will be a very notable 19 month break in-between Season 6 and Season 7.

It's unclear how, if at all, this delay affects 24's future beyond Season 7. The show had been renewed through Season 8, but the fact that it will now miss a full TV season raises questions regarding whether FOX is still definitely going to do an 8th season. Especially taking into account the long delay, many will be observing how the ratings for Season 7 hold up, especially after the show suffered a decrease in viewership during the fairly unpopular Season 6.

In the case of Sarah Connor, FOX's already strong mid-season slate (including their ever-dependable American Idol), means they will not be filming more episodes of that show for this season, nor of other upcoming mid-season launches like Canterbury's Law, says Variety. The fate of Sarah Connor and the other new FOX shows beyond this spring will be decided later.

Update: It's been a busy week for 24 news. Check out our new story on series creator Joel Surnow leaving the show.