UPDATE: The L.A. City Attorney's Office confirmed Dec. 31 that Willard had completed the diversion program and would not face a trial on a lewd-conduct charge.
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Fred Willard's "strange situation" may conclude in a very routine manner.
The actor has been offered a chance to participate in the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office Alternative Prosecution Program to avoid being charged in connection with his arrest Wednesday night for alleged lewd conduct in an adult movie theater, E! News confirmed Friday.
If Willard, 76, chooses to enroll in the estimated two-week course, then the case against him will likely be dropped, according to a City Attorney's rep.
If, for some reason, the Best in Show star declines the offer, then prosecutors will still have up to a year to pursue criminal charges against him.
Willard's lawyer has not returned repeated requests for comment.
Confronted by a TMZ camera outside his attorney's office yesterday, Willard said his arrest during a vice-unit inspection of the Tiki Theatre in Hollywood was a "big misunderstanding."
"It didn't happen," the still good-natured funnyman said in reference to the unspecified behavior that police had accused him of engaging in.
—Reporting by Baker Machado