Well, that was...bracing.

After three long months of winter, as icy winds swept through the deserted studio lots while production after production went into hibernation, there are signs that spring is here, and our favorite shows may soon return! (Can we get a hell yes?!)

Of course, the biggest question for us TV fans is which beloved shows will—or won't—come back this season.

We've checked in with the show runners of some of the fans' favorite series (including Lost's Damon Lindelof, Friday Night Lights' Jason Katims, Pushing Daisies' Bryan Fuller and Gossip Girl and Chuck's Josh Schwartz, 24's David Fury, One Tree Hill's Mark Schwahn and many more) for their reaction to the strike's end and when we'll get more episodes.

Read on to get the scoop! (Updated with info about CSI: NY and Showtime shows.)

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AP Photo/Ric Francis

We just got back from the big WGA press conference in Hollywood, where it was announced that, assuming the writers don't go loco and for some reason drastically change course between now and the official vote (don't worry, they won't), the strike is officially over as of this Tuesday night, and the writers will be back to work on Wednesday.

Man, it feels good to type that.

Some of our favorite show runners will be back to work in a producer capacity as early as tomorrow, and some (not all) of the shows we love will produce more episodes for this season.

News to Know
Okay, so here's more of what we heard at the press conference from WGAW president Patric M. Verrone, WGAE president Michael Winship, chief negotiator David Young and negotiating committee chair John F. Bowman. 

• The president always starts the State of the Union Address with, "The state of our union is strong," and I think that pretty well sums up how the WGA guys feel as of today.
• The Academy Awards will be happy-slappy, so you are all welcome at E! Online's digital Oscar party on Sun., Feb. 24. We'll have pictures, we'll have gossip...It's gonna be great.
  
• There will be no picketing tomorrow or Tuesday.
• The official vote, done by paper ballot or faxed-in proxy vote, will take place Tuesday afternoon at the WGA Theater in Beverly Hills and at the Crowne Plaza in NYC.
• If you see Peter Chernin (Fox), Bob Iger (Disney) or Les Moonves (CBS/Viacom) at Whole Foods, feel free to slap them on the back. The guild chiefs gave those CEOs mad props for helping get the deal done. On the other hand, should you run into any AMPTP staff negotiators, feel free to sneer. They apparently weren't quite so helpful.
  
• WGA: We ♥ SAG and you the fans for your support during the strike.
• One interesting comment from Verrone was that if the 1988 writers' strike opened the door for content without writers (Cops, America's Most Wanted), this strike opened the door for content without conglomerates. (Hello, YouTube!) The Mentos and Diet Coke guys actually even got a shout-out.
• Verrone also noted that while they were all told prestrike that organizing the writers would be like "herding cats," the cats turned out to not only be very well-behaved, striking, picketing and holding out, but "they roared."
• Labor leader Young said that the best time for any labor-management issue to be resolved is at the point of highest pressure on both sides. The impending Academy Awards and the risk of losing the remainder of the TV season coincided perfectly to make that happen.

All in all, I think it's fair to say: Woo-hoo!

(Check back soon for status reports from specific shows.)

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E! Online

The strike is over.

I just got back from the big WGA meeting at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles, and I am 97 percent sure of this for two reasons:

1. James L. Brooks, who has three Oscars, 19 Emmys, one measly Golden Globe and cocreated a little show called The Simpsons, told me, "I think we're gonna be good. I think the strike is over."
2. A kid named Jerome borrowed my pen so he could write down the phone number of a guy he was networking with, because Jerome just lost his current job—as a strike assistant.

Check out our news story to get the exact timeline of what will happen next, including when the TV business will be back at work (midweekish), but for my eye and earwitness report of what went on at the big show, read on...

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2792/Most Wanted/ZUMAPress.com

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know about where things stand as of right now. News reports coming out of the East Coast meeting of the WGA membership seem to indicate that while the WGA-AMPTP deal as drafted is not perfect, it's good enough for most of the writers who attended.

The consensus seems to be that continuing the work stoppage could yield some incremental gains but probably not enough of an improvement to make more striking worthwhile.

A writer friend in New York City tells me the membership back there "basically approved" the deal, although there's no official verdict yet.

The big pow-wow at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles goes down in a couple of hours; we'll let you know how it goes...

E! Networks/Comcast Entertainment Group

Finally...some real and quantifiable progress in the writers' strike.

Though it's not over till it's over and someone signs on the bottom line, news has broken this morning that the Writers Guild of America has reached a tentative agreement with the producers. (Get all the details in our news story.)

All together now: Yeeeeeee....? (That's cautious optimism.)

The proposed pact will be presented later today to the more than 100,000 WGA members at separate meetings on both coasts (at the Crowne Plaza in Manhattan and the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles). If it is well received, the leaders of the WGA will meet Sunday to finalize the documents, and, well, writers could be back to work in as little as 48 hours.

WGA leaders spent much of yesterday going over the legal language of the proposal, and early this morning, WGA bosses Patric Verrone and Michael Winship sent out a message that emphasized gains in the most hotly contested area, new media:

It is an agreement that protects a future in which the Internet becomes the primary means of both content creation and delivery. It creates formulas for revenue-based residuals in new media, provides access to deals and financial data to help us evaluate and enforce those formulas and establishes the principle that, "When they get paid, we get paid."

According to insiders, the proposed deal does not match the Internet-download formula the WGA had hoped for. However, it does allow for some gains—namely, double the residual payments they were receiving under the old home-video formula. This is the exact same equation that was agreed to by the Directors Guild of America.

Some WGA members have openly criticized the DGA deal, saying it is not sufficient to meet the writers' needs. "Double of nothing is still nothing," one screenwriter close to the negotiations said this morning. "We were hoping for more. So, it is disappointing."

Another point of contention has been the length of time a network can stream a full episode  on its website. Many WGA members were hoping for a shorter time frame than what the DGA agreed to (24 days), but the proposed pact mirrors the DGA's.

Still, many other writers seem ready to come to terms with the gains that have been achieved and put the picket signs behind them. "I don't think any of us [writers] think this deal is ideal," says one TV writer. "But I think there's also a feeling that we fought the fight well and we should be content with the advances that were made."

Verrone and Winship seem to agree. In their letter to writers, they say: “We believe that continuing to strike now will not bring sufficient gains to outweigh the potential risks and that the time has come to accept this contract and settle the strike. Much has been achieved, and while this agreement is neither perfect nor perhaps all that we deserve for the countless hours of hard work and sacrifice, our strike has been a success.”

If the tentative deal is signed off on tomorrow by the WGA leaders, a portion of this TV season will survive (for some series), and pilot season might also be salvaged.

Stay tuned...

2792/Most Wanted/ZUMAPress.com

Current Hollywood Box Score:
Optimism: 27
Pessimism: 14

Okay, there's no actual score, that's just my imagination, but things are looking pretty good! Some of you have requested an update on the strike front, so here's a quick rundown of where things stand:

• The Next Big Date:  The WGA membership will meet up at the Shrine Auditorium this Saturday to review the deal that was hashed out with the AMPTP in informal talks last week.
• Turnaround Time:  If the deal is approved, dramas could be back on the air in as few as six weeks, and sitcoms may be able to return even faster.
• Manic Monday:  Work on some series could resume as early as Monday. We're hearing from quite a few out-of-town writers that they are flocking back to Los Angeles because they've been told by agents that their producer bosses will expect them first thing on Monday if an agreement is reached.
• Open Questions:  The biggest issues up in the air are the where, when and how of the approval decision and how quickly, or in what manner, the governors of the WGA could repeal the strike decree. There's also a report from Nikki Finke that even if the verbal agreement is declared kosher, the actual legal documents would still need to be worked out, or the deal could die on its feet. (Yes, I love mixing metaphors. Shut up.)
• Think Happy Thoughts:  Last but not least, the WGA membership could just plain decline to approve the deal, so there are still a lot of steps between where we stand today and the return of, say, Pam and Jim, but cross your fingers and toes!

2792/Most Wanted/ZUMAPress.com

Grrr, argh...

So, as reported right here in this column, the widespread rumor reverberating through Hollywood over the weekend was that the WGA-AMPTP deal was "done," and all that was left before the strike was officially over was to dot the i's and cross the t's.

Giddy over this prospect, we fanned out to interrogate some folks on the writers' side about what this means for the rest of the TV season.

Emails came back as a mixture of "Say wha?" and "Says who?" Huh. Then came the letter from WGA president Patric Verrone to members, which said, essentially, that it ain't over till it's over. "We are still in talks and do not yet have a contract," Verrone wrote. "Picketing will resume on Monday." Damn.

After interviewing multiple sources close to the negotiations yesterday and today, it has become clear there are a couple of remaining issues on the table.

Among them, according to sources, is an established length of proposed "promotional clips" that the studios and networks could use free of charge under the new agreement. (Is a "clip" 20 seconds? Two minutes? All 22 minutes of an episode of 30 Rock?) That length was not determined in the DGA deal.

So, why the widespread word on Saturday that the deal was done? According to Nikki Finke's blog at deadlinehollywooddaily.com, Peter Chernin was telling people at the Super Bowl yesterday that "the strike was over," which is exactly what everyone else in the industry was hearing from high-placed sources. Hence, the story was picked up by nearly every media outlet over the weekend, including the The New York Times and Associated Press.

One longtime screenwriter close to the negotiations lobs this allegation: "We think [the AMPTP] sent out the message that the strike is over to try and weaken our resolve. Why else would anyone try to announce anything before it is actually over?"

The AMPTP also went on record today to deny rumors of a done deal, though an AMPTP source also told time.com to "stay tuned."

Meanwhile, a nonpartisan, looky-loo commuter just texted in to tell us: "Just drove past Paramount [Studios], and the [WGA] picketers are out in full force. They are stronger than I've seen in many weeks."

Where do things stand now? Well, the writers have the very big stick of an Oscar picket line. The producers wield the weighty bat of "Work stoppages hurt the little guy most."

Will this standoff have a swift resolution, or could the cold war between the two sides drag on—or worse, get downright hot? Give us your thoughts in the Comments section below.

And say a little prayer for our good friend Mr. Television while you're at it.

AP Photo/Nick Ut

It seems this week's rumors that the writers' strike is coming to an end may indeed be true. We are hearing from several sources that the WGA and the AMPTP are "very close" to a deal, which could be announced as early as later today.

According to reliable insiders who asked not to be named, the writers and producers were in talks for nine hours yesterday and made a "staggering amount of progress," as all of the major sticking points have been settled.

"We are 99.9 percent of the way there," one source inside the negotiations said. "As of late yesterday, just a few small issues remained."

The stickiest issue of all, compensation for new-media projects, has been agreed upon by both sides, according to sources. Said one: "There is most certainly light at the end of the tunnel, and we are rapidly approaching it."

Stay tuned, and keep those fingers crossed. An announcement could come any minute.

ABC/Scott Garfield

It's official. Everyone in this town has heard from someone—their writer friend, agent or dog sitter's ex-boyfriend—that the strike "should" end sometime this week (as evidenced by the comments to yesterday's "Rumor Patrol" story).

I wanted to let you know that at this point, we TV fans should be cautiously optimistic—with a big emphasis on the word cautiously. Because despite the rampant rumor that "the end is coming," a few inside sources report today that they have heard the latest WGA/AMPTP proposed deal has not been accepted. So, let's hope for the best but...you know the rest.

What's more, I'm hearing from a few show-runner types that it may already be (hope you're sitting down for this) too late for some series to put together more episodes for the current season, including one particular show we fans adore: Pushing Daisies.

AP Photo/Nick Ut

"Lots of talk has been going down this past week," Daisies boss Bryan Fuller told me earlier today. "Essentially, even if the strike is resolved in the next week or two, we wouldn't be back until next season. There was a preliminary conversation that involved a plan to hit the ground running and try to get episodes on the air as soon as possible, but it no longer seems like that's going to happen. It seems most likely that we will have a very short first season and then come back in the fall for a proper season two."

Ned and Chuck and Olive, we'll miss ye.

On the flip side, other shows seem to be holding out some hope that they will be able to produce more episodes if the strike ends soon, such as Desperate Housewives honcho Marc Cherry.

John Heller/WireImage.com

"It depends upon when the strike ends," Cherry told me Sunday at the SAG Awards, "but if it were very soon, I think maybe I could cram in seven episodes [before the end of the season]. It would take us about two weeks to get back into production. I'm chomping at the bit. The moment the starting pistol is fired, I'm off and running. I'm ready to go, I just need the okay [from the union]."

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AP Photo/Nick Ut

Okay, I'll be the first to tell you I might be a moron for even reporting this, but the rumors are flying so fast and thick that I thought you guys would want to know...

According to crazy Internet people, friends of friends and people who heard things from their agent's manicurist's boyfriends who supposedly work for the union, the strike might be almost over. Informal talks resumed last week after the DGA-AMPTP handshake deal, and big cheeses from both sides broke bread this weekend. By Saturday, I was hearing, "It'll be over this week."

That sounded promising, so I chatted up a few big-deal executive producers and union types yesterday at the SAG Awards—and heard everything from "It's looking good" to "We have a lot of work left to do."

So, same as usual, but early this afternoon the rumor storm seemed to kick into high gear, with emails scurrying around saying the deal should come down very soon—i.e., late today or tomorrow.

And yet, another source inside the WGA negotiation inner circle just told me: "That's just a rumor [that the strike is ending]. We just sent an email today about the picket lines resuming."

Gaaah! So, where does that leave us? I haven't a clue...but join me in a virtual prayer circle, won't you? Or at least take our poll and post in the Comments—tell us what you think about the chances of a swift and peaceful resolution to the big S! If you're feeling lucky, lay down a fiver. I'm putting a 10 spot on "within the next week."

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The heat is on.

But many of you are asking, what does this mean for our favorite shows and the Writers Guild strike? Well, right about now, it means many of the key members have probably broken into a sweat, as all eyes narrow in on the WGA to see if it will accept similar terms to the DGA agreement, which provides some new-media gains but not the full extent requested by the writers.

Adding more fuel to the fire is the fact that we are fast approaching the point of no return for the current 2007-08 TV season. As Pushing Daisies executive producer Bryan Fuller just told us, "If the strike is resolved in the next three weeks, there is a slim chance that shows could come back and produce four or five additional episodes to wrap up their seasons. If it isn't resolved by mid-February, then, yes, that's pretty much it for the 2007-08 season."

But other series may be even closer to calling it quits. Crew members who work on two mainstream, fan-favorite TV shows tell me they were informed this week that it is "extremely unlikely" they will be producing any more episodes this season whether the strike ended soon or not.

According to one below-the-line crew member: "We were told that even if the strike ends soon, we won't be doing any more episodes until next season, because it just won’t work." (These sources requested that their shows not be named.)

According to the statement from the DGA, the new tentative agreement includes:

• Increases in wages and residual bases for each year of the contract
• DGA jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet
• A new residuals formula for paid Internet downloads (electronic sell-through) that essentially doubles the rate currently paid by employers.
• Residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the Internet

"Two words describe this agreement—groundbreaking and substantial," Gil Cates, chair of the DGA's Negotiations Committee, said in the announcement. "The gains in this contract for directors and their teams are extraordinary—and there are no rollbacks of any kind."

But will the writers think it's a fair shake? Stand by and cross your fingers the AMPTP will get back to that WGA negotiation table, stat, and something good will come of all this.

In the meantime, what are your thoughts on the DGA deal and the WGA strike? Do you still support the writers? How long can you wait for your shows to return? Comment below...

AP Photo/Nick Ut

The blows just keep coming. 

Yesterday, the news broke that four TV studios (the biggies) have axed deals with producers and writers on their payroll, citing the WGA strike as the reason.

This came on the heels of the news on Friday that ABC Studios made a similar move.  

And you TV fans are officially freaking the frak out. “Does this mean the TV season is over? Is there any hope of getting new eps of Heroes or Grey's or Pushing Daisies this season?” writes Terrence in Nebraska. “Please help!” 

Since so many of you are so worried about the fate of your favorite shows (and I am right there with you), I checked in with one of the show runners most deeply affected by the strike—Mr. Bryan Fuller of this season’s beloved breakout hit Pushing Daisies—to get his take on the likelihood of more episodes this season.

ABC/HEIDI GUTMAN

“I don't think the TV season as we know it is over just yet,” he tells me. “If the strike is resolved in the next three weeks, there is a slim chance that shows could come back and produce four or five additional episodes to wrap up their seasons. Any less than that, and networks will scuttle. But that's if the strike is resolved quickly. If it isn't resolved by mid-February, then, yes, that's pretty much it for the 2007-08 season.” 

And, yes, I will be upping my Xanax and learning to read. Still, Fuller says he’s trying to remain cautiously optimistic.

“I have a little hope that between the DGA negotiations and the desire to save the Oscar telecast, we may have a chance. I'm not giving up hope for a few more weeks! Or until I'm told it's done.” 

So, take a moment to say a prayer—on behalf of Pushing Daisies and 30 Rock and Lost and all the other shows we hold so dear—that the studios will do the right thing and go back to the table. Before it’s too late.