VH1 must be bleeding money, given how much they rerun America's Next Top Model, I Love New York, The Flava of Love, The Rock of Love, The Hogans, and Celebrity Rehab.
Considering every script writer in Hollywood was on strike, that'd mean having to go out and hiring people with no experience whatsoever. If they were going to do that, they should've done it when the strike started; it's too late now. Besides, do you really want Lost written by people who...
Actually my understanding is that spec scripts are the one thing the writers are allowed to work on, they just can't shop them around until the strike ends. But it can still ruin the development schedule if there's no time to develop them before pilot season.