You'd better get your fill of new TV shows and movies while you can because not too long from now, you might just be seeing re-runs.

The union representing practically all the film and TV writers in Hollywood is on the verge of calling a strike.

If a new contract is not reached by midnight Wednesday between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the 12,000 members of the writers union have said they're prepared to strike.

Mark Cherry, the creator of "Desperate Housewives" said, "For the average viewer of TV, a strike means come January, all original programming would stop at least for scripted shows. Certain reality shows could continue, but it would be a far different prime time schedule from January 15th or so."

The writers want reality TV shows to go union.

They want more residual pay for home video sales.

And their chief demand: compensation for the shows and movies that end up online.

"The next generation is growing up watching shows on the Internet. Right now, TV is being re-run on the net. By the way, we're not getting paid for those shows on the net," said John Bowman of the Writers Guild of America.

But the big studios aren't budging and call the writers' demands unrealistic.

Nick Counter of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said, "They're preoccupied with going on a strike. Their leadership has taken them out on a fool's errand for a disastrous impact on our industry."

Carl Diorio of the Hollywood Reporter has been covering the looming strike for months.

He says while the writers likely won't walk out Wednesday night, picket lines seem inevitable.

"There's very little evidence that they found any common ground on virtually any subject," said Diorio.

If the writers do decide to strike, it would halt production on most TV shows and movies, putting more than 100,000 people in Hollywood out of work.