Kevin Rankin, who plays Nate, provided the first bit of news on the Bionic front today that we've had in weeks, as he explained to the L.A. Daily News how he was cast and his take on the future:

"At the beginning of the season, they did a lot of retooling. They fired some of the producers and writers. The guy they brought on to fix the show was Jason Katims. He was the show-runner for `Friday Night Lights.' Within a week, he called me up and invited me and offered me the part. He said come up and try and instill some humor, and ground it in reality a little bit. I became Nathan, the bionics guy, I work with computers. I'm going out on missions and learning how to fight.

"The show was getting its feet under it before the strike happened, but I'm not sure if it's coming back. I just don't think it got a fair shake. I'd love to see it come back."

[ via LA Daily News ] 

Bionic Woman has not been cancelled. Yes, I'm as surprised as you are. The word from Matt Webb Mitovich:

Will Bionic Woman, which before the WGA struck was hoping to reverse its fortunes with a two-part January "relaunch," ever get the chance to fine-tune its engine? Although there were earlier reports that not only has the NBC series exhausted its supply of scripted episodes but it has been all together scrapped, a spokesperson for NBC Universal Media Studios tells TVGuide.com, "Bionic Woman has not been cancelled. Production was shut down due to the WGA strike. In addition, we have not completed the initial 13-episode order, which will be the first order of business when the strike ends."

Of course, that doesn't mean it still won't be once episode 13 is done.  

[ via TV Guide ] 

Who knows if you can trust the site, but Spoiler TV is reporting that Bionic Woman has been cancelled:

We've just been informed by our sources that NBC have indeed as expected cancelled Bionic Woman. Nothing official has been posted by NBC but expect to hear an official confirmation shortly. We'll post the official confirmation when we have it.

[ via Spoiler TV ] 

We're still on Deathwatch here as there's still no guarantee that Bionic will be or won't be cancelled as NBC has remained rather mum on the whole thing. Word comes this morning that because of the WGA strike, it appears plans for a January relaunch have been scrapped and Wednesdays will instead be taken over by Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent reruns starting January 9. So if we follow that path to February sweeps, BW likely wouldn't make a return then either because it's just not strong enough in the ratings; shows have been dumped from sweeps with higher ratings. I'm thinking a March return would be the most likely if indeed it happens at all.

[ via Variety ] 

It might be the last Bionicast ever if "Do Not Disturb" was the last episode of Bionic Woman but we kick it out with evolving anger, reviews of Hex, Babylon 5 and the Hitman movie.

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Despite that fact that she's absent and despite the rumors to the contrary, Katee Sackhoff says the has no plans to leave Bionic Woman and that she has no problem with Michelle Ryan, "[Michelle] is doing a great job. There's not one ounce of bad blood between us." 

Sacks casts aspersions on the guy over at the Roadrunner blog, saying "It's sad because you want to connect with the fans, and then they throw it in your face in a negative light."

She also insists her recent meeting with producers was to discuss her involvement which was limited to seven episodes in the first season, contractually speaking."If they want to cut my involvement, that's totally fine. I understand that it's called Bionic Woman, not "Women." It would be nice to actually do a pilot season."

[ via TV Guide ] 

Well every regular show at the 9 PM slot continues to trend upward (even Gossip Girl) and yet Bionic Woman continues to fall despite a dearth of any future good content on TV due to the WGA strike. Were you frustrated by last night's episode? I was. I can only imagine how it affects the casual viewer.

Here's how the overall numbers break down for the hour. Share is measured in millions.

It's no surprise of course, given the ratings, but several sites are reporting rumors today that Bionic Woman has been, or is close to, cancellation given the current WGA strike.

LATEST: Actress MICHELLE RYAN looks set to lose her role on the show BIONIC WOMAN - as the show is rumoured to be facing the axe by studio executives.
Following the Hollywood's writers' strike, the cast of the sci-fi remake saw their contracts with Universal Media Studios suspended earlier this month (Nov07).
And now production has been halted on the action-packed drama, Hollywood insiders predict the show - which has seen viewer figures plummet since its premiere earlier this year (Sep07) - will be dropped.

 What it is, what it is. Scratch the deets of episode 1.8 "Do Not Disturb" as they have been slapped out. [/jive talk]

Considering he's a fairly anonymous blogger, I'm not sure that you can trust this report, so caveat emptor and all that. That being said, a blog called Roadrunner claims to have spoken with Katee Sackhoff at some convention in Burbank, Cali and she says that she is done playing Sarah Corvus.

Katee Sackhoff is done with Bionic Woman, and not just because of the strike. She has a meeting with one of the producers after Thanksgiving, but does not expect to return to the show even if it does resume production (which I don't personally believe will happen anyway). She is even already trying to divorce herself from being associated with Sarah Corviss. Katee never came out and explicitly stated the reason for her departure from the show, but her thinly veiled sassy comments made it pretty apparent that there isn't a lot of love going on between her and Michelle Ryan. (Frankly, I'd go so far as to say that Katee was skating a fine line toward being rather unprofessional at times. I'm no fan of Michelle Ryan or Bionic Woman, but it's bad form in any industry to insult your co-workers in front of the customers, and Katee needs to be careful that she doesn't start burning bridges.)

[ via Roadrunner ] 

Antonio is dead and now it's time to tear apart the episode, "Trust Issues." Plus, news on the WGA strike, Ghostbusters and Farscape and reviews of 30 Rock, Supernatural and Flight of the Conchords.

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NBC has taken the first big public hit as a result of the Writer's Guild strike, as they have decided to withdraw from January's press tour which would show off midseason shows and lay ground for Fall pilots.

[ via Yahoo ] 

Well, it happened on November 9th: Bionic Woman, along with Battlestar Galactica, was shut down by strikers from the Writer's Guild Alliance at Toronto Film Studios, both about a month before their planned winter break.  Apparently both shows have now run out of scripts and there is nothing to shoot. Interestingly, Ken Ferguson, president of Toronto Film Studios, thinks Hollywood North might be losing its value soon as the dollar continues to collapse, thus providing little reason for shows to film there.

[ via CanMag ] 

A new episode title has arrived and it's "Do Not Disturb," episode eight. Plus, a good number of Michelle-centric photos from said episode.

It's not a good sign when the only show you're beating now in the ratings is Gossip Girl. Yes, ratings are down again this week from last week's "The List," dropping over 1 million in the general numbers and in the 18-49. Grumble grumble...

Here's how the overall numbers break down for the hour. Share is measured in millions.