What do Heroes, ER, Brothers & Sisters, Dirty Sexy Money, House, Bones, CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, NCIS and My Name Is Earl all have in common? They are all still in production despite the usually-horrible summer TV season already upon us (NBC’s All American Summer, anyone?).

This is because of the Writer’s Strike, though if you talk to anyone in production, they will call it “the new method of television production,” or some such thing.

When the WGA took to the streets and effectively shut down TV, most programs got a two-month hiatus smack-dab in the middle of their seasons. After the strike, most abruptly halted shows went back into production with an abbreviated episode order. Some, like House, were forced to move whole plot lines into next season.

But now that production has resumed and finales have been filmed, what are some of TV’s most consistent shows doing still shooting episodes? And why is Heroes in production even though they (wisely) decided to prematurely end Season 2?

It’s all part of the reactionary system of television production, which is going to make itself known to the world during next week’s upfronts…

Usually, television production crews keep working for 10 months out of the year. Those two summer months off involve the crew not getting paid and the actors taking quick vacations while the writers lock themselves away to write beat-sheets and outlines.

This year, many shows are staying in production to compile a few episodes for the beginning of the fall season. All the shows listed above have begun production on this fall’s season, meaning that at next week’s big upfronts show for advertisers, returning series might have clips from next season shown in an attempt to grab some all-important advertising dollars.

Looping shows that have already been guaranteed another season might become the new way television shows are produced, or it might just be a temporary necessity derived from needing to film television shows inbetween two strikes.

The WGA strike left many television employees unpaid for two months, some income they are being allowed to supplement currently with the extended production season. Come June 30th, SAG’s contract is going to go up, and unless they graciously decide to cave to the AMPTP before the deadline, production will AGAIN be stopped, and TV employees will feel the immediate hurt.

Another advantage of having episodes in the can before formal production on next fall’s season begins is the Summer Olympics taking place in August.

Look for networks to let some shows bow into seasons early (especially shows that got extended seasons, like Gossip Girl and Heroes) in an attempt to cash in on Tibetan Genocide…oops…we meant, people watching the Olympics on broadcast television.

Production studios are currently split as to how long this new system of production will stay in place. Two things could lock this into status-quo: 1) If upfronts somehow manage to make a lot more money than they expect using clips from established shows with almost NO PILOTS ready to be shown to advertisers, or 2) if next spring, more successful shows start leap-frogging the summer break in production.

TV production is a huge machine, and as soon as schedules are locked for one production season, it’s hard to revert back to “old ways.”

We’re excited, because it seems like the show runners get the option to continue storylines while they are fresh in the minds of the cast, and allows them to can a few good episodes before the pre-production rush.