Steven Spielberg’s science-fiction series for Fox, "Terra Nova," has laid off most of its writing staff, although apparently the move wasn’t due to any trouble on the project, reports the Los Angeles Times’ ShowTracker blog.

Those getting pink slips included "X-Files" writer  Chris Brancato, although Brannon Braga of "Star Trek: Enterprise" has kept his job as showrunner, the piece says.

So why the cuts? The network and 20th Century Fox Television are pushing back most episode production to next summer, leaving them "faced with the prospect of paying a lot of writers to do not very much over the next few months," the story says.

The plan now is to debut the series with a two-hour special in May and continue the series in the fall 2011 line-up, the article notes. But that means the studio will either need to rehire the writers next year, assuming they are available, or find new writers, it adds.