'The Shield' Falls Back

Hal Boedeker at the Orlando Sentinel is reporting that the final installment of FX's flagship series The Shield has been bumped from its slated Summer slot and won't return until next fall.

I have bad news for fans of "The Shield." You've been waiting for the Michael Chiklis drama. You're going to have to wait longer.

It probably won't return until September, an FX spokesman told me.

The cable channel will present "Dirt" and "The Riches" in the spring. "Rescue Me" and "Damages" won't be back until next year, because of the writers' strike. So FX wanted to save something for fall, and that means the final 13 episodes of the cop drama will play there.

Another consideration: FX wanted to start "The Shield" after the Summer Olympics from China.

Obviously this is wildly disappointing, but it's tough to argue with FX's strategy (although I'm not really sure that the Summer Olympics are all that big of a threat).

But Boedeker is right. With the pickings slim as ever, The Shield would have been real nice right about now.

Keywords: The Shield, Return, Date, Returns, Coming Back, Come Back, Final Season, Season 7, Season Seven, Season Six 6 Part 2, Part II, Delay