While the WGA and the AMPTP are due to engage in “informal discussions” that may or may not lead to both sides returning to the negotiations table, one network is taking action. CBS has decided to cut it’s pilot season order by 20 projects. That means 20 comedy/drama scripts got killed by CBS this weekend. Is CBS the first of many, only time will tell. My guess is “um, yeah!”

From The Hollywood Reporter:

In the latest fallout from the writers strike, CBS has trimmed its development slate, letting go of about 20 projects, most of them dramas.

On Friday, the network contacted the reps for the projects, most of which hail from CBS’ primary supplier, sister studio CBS Paramount Network TV. Also affected are scripts from Sony Pictures TV, 20th Century Fox TV and ABC Studios.

The list of terminated projects is said to include CBS Par’s drama “Brothers Grimm,” from writer Stephen Carpenter and Sean Hayes’ Hazy Mills Prods., and a 20th TV-produced comedy from writer Barbie Adler.

“Due to the ongoing writers strike, our development needs for the upcoming pilot season have changed, and we have released some comedy and drama scripts,” CBS said. “This year’s pilot season, at best, will be played out in a very compressed time frame. In this landscape, we are better served creatively, financially and strategically by focusing our development on a more targeted number of projects.”

Other networks also might truncate their 2008-09 development slates because of the strike.

Fox declined comment on its plans citing competitive reasons. NBC also declined comment, while reps for ABC couldn’t be reached for comment.

Yesterday, GLAAD (The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) announced the list of nominees for their annual Media Awards from the Queer Lounge at Sundance (is that PC for bath house) and though I’m a day late posting these, I thought it was worth rattling off regardless of timing. The GLAAD Media Awards recognize fair and accurate portrayals by mainstream media of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered issues.

Here are the the nominees:

Drama Series
Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Degrassi: The Next Generation (The N)
Dirty Sexy Money (ABC)
Greek (ABC Family)
The L Word (Showtime)

Comedy Series
Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Exes and Ohs (Logo)
The Sarah Silverman Program (Comedy Central)
Ugly Betty (ABC)
The War at Home (Fox)

Individual Episode (in a series w/o a regular LGBT character)
“Boy Crazy” Cold Case (CBS)
“Do Tell” Boston Legal (ABC)
“Free to Be You and Me” Kyle XY (ABC Family)
“The Gangs of Camden County” My Name is Earl (NBC)
“Sin” Law & Order: SVU (NBC)

Television Movie, Mini-Series or Anthology
Daphne (Logo)
The DL Chronicles (here!)
The State Within (BBC America)

Documentary
Camp Out (Logo)
Cruel and Unusual: Transgender Women in Prison (WE tv)
For the Bible Tells Me So (First Run Features)
Freddie Mercury: Magic Remixed (VH1/Logo)
Small Town Gay Bar (Logo)

Reality Program
“Chase/Lane” Trading Spouses (Fox)
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (Bravo)
Project Runway (Bravo)
Who Wants to Be a Superhero? (SciFi Channel)
Work Out (Bravo)

Daily Drama
All My Children (ABC)
As The World Turns (CBS)

Talk Show Episode
“Born in the Wrong Body” The Oprah Winfrey Show (syndicated)
“Gay Around the World” The Oprah Winfrey Show (syndicated)
“Gay Athletes & Rappers: It’s Not In to be Out” The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated)
“Growing Up Intersex” The Oprah Winfrey Show (syndicated)
“Transgender Kids” The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated)

TV Journalism - Newsmagazine
Born in the Wrong Body (MSNBC)
“A Church Divided” In the Life (PBS)
“Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” 60 Minutes (CBS)
“My Secret Self: A Story of Transgender Children” 20/20 (ABC)
“A Royal Scandal” Primetime: Family Secrets (ABC)

TV Journalism - News Segment
“The First Casualty” Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)
“Gay Homeless Teens” Uncovering America (CNN)
“Gospel of Inclusion” Uncovering America (CNN)
“Sent Away to ‘Change’” Good Morning America (ABC)
“Sex Change Controversy” Paula Zahn Now (CNN)