Action continues on animated programs

You won't see SpongeBob SquarePants or Dora the Explorer on the picket lines. JoJo, Ed, Edd and Eddy also are sitting it out.

Instead, they -- or, rather, the writers of those animated namesake shows -- are still working, despite a strike by Hollywood writers that has idled the TV industry for six weeks.

That's because animation writers are not employed under the same Writers Guild of America contracts that cover live-action movies and TV programs. With the exception of a handful of prime-time animated shows on Fox, animation largely falls under the jurisdiction of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, a rival union not on strike -- or no union at all.

As a result, broadcast networks such as CBS and NBC are bracing for audience fallout as original live-action programming dries up because of the strike, while cable channels such as Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, whose schedules are dependent upon animation, are flourishing.  Read more

More news on the strike

--Lorenza Muñoz