ABC slashes development slate in response to strike

By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - ABC on Thursday became the latest network to trim its 2008-09 program development slate, citing the effects of the writers' strike on this year's pilot season.

The network went for a deep cut, releasing 35 to 40 scripts, roughly one-third of its slate and the most of any network, sources said. Most of the projects are said to hail from the network's sister studio, ABC Studios, and about 15 are believed to be comedy scripts.

ABC's list of dismissed projects is said to include Alana Sanko's "Get Out" and Rob Lotterstein's "One Big Happy." Both are executive produced by ABC Studios-based producers, Salma Hayek and Emile Levisetti, respectively.

"The ongoing strike has caused us to reevaluate our development needs, and we've made the difficult decision to reduce the number of scripts under consideration," ABC said in a statement.

ABC joins CBS, Fox and the CW, which have reduced their slates in the past week by dropping as many as two dozen scripts each. NBC, meanwhile, said Wednesday that it will stick with all of its scripts in development.

Disney has enforced some of the strongest cost-cutting measures on the TV side during the strike. Two weeks ago, ABC Studios terminated nearly 30 overall deals, the most of any TV studio.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter