Thanks to the on-going writers' strike the hardest thing to achieve in US television just got a whole lot harder. The competitive nature of the US TV market means that one in three new shows ends up cancelled. Some struggle through half a season, others like the much-mocked Viva Laughlin make it through only two episodes before the axe falls.
With network bosses demanding one thing and programme makers and writers frequently striving for another, the supposedly simple act of creating a strong television show has become an absurdly complicated affair - and that's before you begin to factor in the demands of an increasingly sophisticated global audience.
Now the writers' strike has added a new element to the already highly pressurised process. Talk shows are currently running repeats, many sitcoms have already been pulled off the air and if the dispute continues then pre-filmed episodes of dramas will dry up in about six weeks. And while established hits such as Grey's Anatomy, Heroes and Desperate Housewives need only to wrap up existing plotlines as best they can and then sit out the blackout, newer programmes face a more testing time.
With most network's contingency plans centring on midseason replacements and reality TV shows, much will depend on how those replacements perform. Fox held back time travel cop drama New Amsterdam, as well as Terminator spin-off The Sarah Connor Chronicles, both of which are scheduled to air in January. If they perform better than new cop series K-Ville then the New Orleans-set police drama will probably be axed.
Even without eager replacements hovering in the wings things are likely to be tough. For no matter how well a new sitcom or drama has done it is still too early in the season for any lasting loyalty to have been established. This year in particular there have been a number of strongish shows but no single breakout hit. Sure, people might tune in to Michelle Ryan's bionic travails at the moment but by the time February rolls around will anyone remember who Jamie Sommers is, let alone care?
Then there are the financial concerns. The last time that the writers went on strike in 1988 it lasted for five and a half months and is estimated to have cost the industry around $500m. This time around the cost could be double that and it's not only the US television industry which is set to lose out.
ITV, which bought big from America for the second year running - snapping up Bionic Woman, the quirky Pushing Daisies and the campy family saga Cane - now faces the prospect of half-completed seasons of what they hoped would be next year's biggest dramas.
And while Cane looks like the show most vulnerable to cancellation - a full season pick-up has yet to be confirmed - ITV are not alone in fearing the worst. Channel 4, which took a financial hit last year when big buy-ins such as Studio 60 were cancelled, desperately needs Dynasty-meets-Six Feet Under drama Dirty Sexy Money to be a success. Yet DSM is vulnerable to a period of time off the air. The odd missed episode of Dirty Sexy Money, although annoying, doesn't prevent you from following the action. However, too long an absence and a fickle heart could easily move on to something new.
This is where some shows may actually benefit. While sitcoms such as Kelsey Grammar's Back to You and geekcom Big Bang Theory - both again Channel 4 buy-ins - have already been pulled from the air until the strike is resolved, dramas such as time travel show Journeyman - which made its UK debut on Sky One last night - have been granted a longer lease of life thanks to the dispute.
In the past Journeyman and other slow-burners such as Damian Lewis's cop drama Life would have been lucky to have made it to a third episode, this year the threat of strike action has made network bosses understandably wary about pulling the plug.
Whether such shows, which have a committed but small audience, survive a prolonged hiatus is anyone's guess. But at the moment they'll have at least 13 episodes, something that fans of last year's prematurely cancelled series such as Smith and Thief would have cried for.
