AirLockAlpha.com

As if the world of entertainment wasn't confusing enough, try understanding the actual business side.

That's what fans of various SciFi Channel shows are trying to figure out as rumors continue to float about what the network intends to do in scheduling the fourth and final season of "Battlestar Galactica" and the resurrection of what seemed pretty cold and even buried projects.

But it all seems to tie back to one thing, and one thing only: the NBC Universal property is expecting all-out stoppage if script writers walk out Nov. 1, marking the first major stoppage since 1988 when shows like "Star Trek: The Next Generation" had to cut down their seasons and rely on previously-written scripts.

Even worse, the Screen Actors Guild is threatening to strike in June, and there is a good possibility that writers could hold off striking until then, to create a much more tenable situation with studios as they try and negotiate better collective bargaining agreements.

Networks have ordered practically marathon sessions of pre-production work, in an effort to make sure that everything that needs to be written for the upcoming television season is written just after Halloween. And a network source tells Airlock Alpha that it's really the strike leading the charge for a spread out final season of "Battlestar Galactica" and the new life paid to by "Caprica."

"What happens is that you have a script that's already finished for 'Caprica,' and producing it is now far less risky than having nothing new to offer viewers come '08," the source said. "We also could see the same thing happen to 'Eureka' and 'Stargate: Atlantis.'"

Even non-scripted shows could be affected like "Who Wants To Be A Superhero?" and "Ghost Hunters," because those shows also include some scripted material by hosts and such.

"I don't see anyone at the network really wanting to spread out 20 episodes over two years," the source said. "But these guys remember what happened in '88. Viewers were pissed about the strike, and some of them didn't come back when the strike was over. They need to make sure they can offer something new because the TV landscape is much different now than it was back then when [cable] was still getting a foothold."

No decision on if the last season of "Battlestar Galactica" will stretch into 2009 is out yet.

"Battlestar Galactica" returns in November with the telemovie "Razor," and airs its fourth and final season beginning in early 2008 on the SciFi Channel.