"Bionic Woman" Shut Down; Actors Suspended

Hollywood press reports the Vancouver-based production of NBC's "Bionic Woman" was quietly shut down last Friday, a month before the original wrap date due to the writers' strike. Meanwhile, NBC Universal is one of the first studios to unleash the "Force Majeure" contract clause suspending actors from "The Bionic Woman," "The Office" and "30 Rock."

Under the clause the studios can chose the following 3 options in the event of a "greater force" like the writers' strike:

A) Keep the actors at full salary

B) Suspend them for up to 5 weeks at half-salary and then chose A or C

C) Terminate the actors' contracts completely

That means NBC may have to make a decision about the fate of "The Bionic Woman" within the next 5 weeks.

The show which premiered to over 14 million viewers in September pulled in 6.3 million viewers in its most recent airing on Wednesday.

Next week "The Bionic Woman" is preempted by a 2-hour "Deal or No Deal" and may return on November 28 with episode #108.

TV Guide reports roughly 9 episodes have been filmed prior to production shutdown.

Next week, the studios may begin to exercise the "Force Majeure" option on writers, as well. Some of the writers who finally got their big break and only had their projects in the pipeline may be terminated completely.

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