From L.A.: Shielding the Truth About a Potential Movie

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- One of the big topics of conversation here at the TV critics meetings is whether some long-running  television shows will be made into more feature films and sequels.

HBO said the success of the "Sex and the City" movie means the studios that financed it have "enormous interest" in doing another movie.

Matt Groening of "The Simpsons" says it will be awhile before he and his staff have the energy to produce a script for a sequel to their successful movie.

Kiefer Sutherland of "24" says the writers of the Fox series won't think about the possibility of making a feature until the series ends.

And then there's "The Shield," the FX police series that begins its seventh and final season in early September.

CCH Pounder, one of the show's stars, said she thinks the series finale is the "greatest" ever and that it "is what (renegade series lead) Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) deserves."

Ignoring what many perceived to be a hint about Mackey's fate, a critic asked about a potential movie after the series ends.

Executive producer Shawn Ryan and Chiklis clearly wanted to avoid the question as much as they wanted to avoid saying how the series will end.

"Like I said, we intended to give FX an ending to the show and that was our only concern," said Ryan. "All I will say is that I don't know, you know, you'll have to see if there's enough people left intact on this show."

"Exactly," added Chiklis. "How do you talk about making a movie when we don't even know who lives?"

Call it a hunch. But those answers made me think that Mackey and the movie idea both could very well be dead by the time the series ends.

-- Alan Pergament