Here's a brief rundown.
-- Prepare to turn in early: Assuming that the involved parties do not meet over the weekend and settle their differences, shows such as "The Colbert Report," "The Daily Show" and "The Tonight Show" would likely be the first affected by the strike. These shows rely on topical content to fuel their monologues, thus they can't stockpile scripts in advance as primetime programs might do (more on that below). Likely, many of these shows will go into reruns. So, either brace yourself for some stale jokes on outdated issues or skip the shows all together.
-- The good news: Though primetime scripted shows on broadcast and cable TV will be affected by the strike, it will likely be a few weeks before that happens. Most series work several weeks in advance, so there will probably be enough new episodes to last until at least December. However, some of those will likely be the result of nervous producers rushing scripts into production. Did you see last night's slapped together (or so I assume) "My Name is Earl," in which the show underwhelmingly revisited last year's "Cops" gimmick? Could be a sign of things to come.
-- The bad news: If those episodes run out before the strike ends, expect to see a slew of reality shows, which will not be affected by the strike. This is good news for fans of returning reality shows, such as "American Idol." Of course, not all of the coming reality shows will be as well-known as "Idol." There are a bunch of new reality shows, just waiting to fill strike-induced gaps in the primetime schedule. And some of them sound pretty horrifying. Rumor has it that the CW is sitting on something called "Farmer Wants a Wife," in which city gals compete for the love of a young farm boy. Yeesh.
-- The upshot: If things aren't settled soon, the TV landscape could become even more barren than usual. So, my advice is to hit your area library or bookstore, join a class or, hey, spend some time with friends or loved ones.