Strike, Strike, baby

Today marks the 11th day of the writers' strike. While there's no public sign of an imminent deal with producers, there continue to be developments on shows being affected by the strike. Here's the latest news:

* ELLEN DEGENERES has bailed on plans to bring her show to New York City next week. Striking writers had promised to show up and protest her decision to remain on the air during the work stoppage. Instead of appearing in the Big Apple, DeGeneres will continue to tape at her studio in Burbank, California. Though DeGeneres, who is a member of the Writers Guild, has come under fire for continuing to tape her show, Telepictures, which produces The Ellen DeGeneres Show, has released a statement saying she's contractually obligated to make original episodes since hers is a syndicated program and not owned by a network.

* According to the Hollywood Reporter, employees of The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson will continue to be paid through the end of the year, even if the strike is still going on at that time. Both late night programs are owned by DAVID LETTERMAN'S Worldwide Pants production company. The decision would make the production company the first and only to hand out paychecks during the strike. According to the Hollywood Reporter, checks will continue to be distributed in order to reassure employees worried about bringing in an income during the strike.

* Fox has elected to continue making new episodes of Family Guy without creator and executive producer SETH MACFARLANE, who is taking part in the strike. Several episodes that MacFarlane had already begun working on will be completed without him, the first of which is slated to air this Sunday. The last new episode done completely with MacFarlane aired last Sunday. It will be particularly interesting to see how episodes without MacFarlane's input turn out, since he provides the voices of many primary characters, including Peter, Stewie and Brian.

* One area in which the writers' strike may not have an impact is coverage of awards shows -- at least not yet. This weekend's American Music Awards, hosted by JIMMY KIMMEL, should go on as scheduled. The show's producer, BARRY ADELMAN, says since everyone knew a strike was on the horizon, the ceremony was pre-written before the work stoppage began. Still, Adelman does admit any topical joke Jimmy Kimmel makes will probably be ad-libbed by him

Strike 2007! UPDATE

NBC's The Office has closed for the foreseeable future after its star, STEVE CARELL, failed to report to work earlier this week. Many other TV series have suffered a similar fate because of the writers' strike, which began on Monday. ABC's Desperate Housewives and CBS' Two and Half Men are among the other shows expected to halt production, for reasons such as a lack of fresh scripts.

Several actors have supported the writers' cause in recent days. Grey's Anatomy star ELLEN POMPEO has accused the networks of being greedy, saying quote, "They're profiting from the sale of the show and they don't want to share the profits."

Family Guy creator SETH MACFARLANE is another TV star who has joined the picket line. According to Variety, he's not interested in helping to complete unfinished episodes of the show. MacFarlane says the latest completed episode of Family Guy airs this Sunday on Fox.

The writers have asked for compensation for shows offered on the Internet. With the strike wreaking havoc on the TV schedule, networks will likely announce plans for alternative programming in the near future. Fox has already tinkered with its midseason schedule -- most notably, the network has postponed the seventh-season premiere of 24, originally scheduled for January, to, quote, "ensure that 'Day 7' can air uninterrupted, in its entirety." American Idol seems safe from the strike, though -- the popular singing competition returns on January 15th.

What ever happened to those good old fashioned family values...

Family Guy marks its 100th episode this Sunday night on Fox. The irreverent animated comedy wrote the book on envelope-pushing, and was actually canceled twice by Fox before being rescued by strong DVD sales and a dedicated fan base.

Series creator SETH MACFARLANE says fans are vital to the success of Family Guy and, thanks to the Internet, have lots of contact with the show's directors and writers.

On Sunday's show, baby Stewie kills his mom, Lois, in an episode called "Matricide."