The Writers Strike has ended. Scribes will return to their craft, and films and TV shows will resume production.

The only task remaining for members of the Writers Guild is to vote in favor or against the tentative 3-year contract with the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers), which they will do in a few weeks.

Below are excerpts from the official announcement, released by the Presidents of the WGA West and East:

On Tuesday, members of the Writers Guilds East and West voted by a
92.5% margin to lift the restraining order that was invoked on November
5th. The strike is over.
 
Writing can resume immediately. If you were employed when the strike
began, you should plan to report to work on Wednesday. 

 
The decision to begin this strike was not taken lightly and was only
made after no other reasonable alternative was possible.  We are
profoundly aware of the economic loss these fourteen weeks have created
not only for our members but so many other colleagues who work in the
television and motion picture industries. Nonetheless, with the
establishment of the WGA jurisdiction over new media and residual
formulas based on distributor’s gross revenue (among other gains) we
are confident that the results are a significant achievement not only
for ourselves but the entire creative community, now and in the future.
 
We hope to build upon the extraordinary energy, ingenuity, and
solidarity that were generated by your hard work during the strike. 
 
Over the next weeks and months, we will be in touch with you to discuss
and develop ways we can use our unprecedented unity to make our two
guilds stronger and more effective than ever.
 
Now that the strike has ended, there remains the vote to ratify the new
contract. 
 
Thank you for making it possible.  As ever, we are all in this together.

I am very happy for the writers, and to hear that the strike was resolved on their terms. Without their words, you would be bored and I would have nothing to talk about. They deserve fair compensation for their work, no matter the medium where it appears, and they earn it with every episode and movie that we are fortunate enough to view across many platforms.

If the writers approve the terms of the deal and vote to end the strike this week, below is a glance at how the rest of the 2008 television season looks, by show (series that I watch or have been asked about; all speculative at this point).

I
could have simply posted links to this information from several online
sources, but what fun would that be? Besides, I don’t think anyone
reading this really cares about the future of Aliens in America.

Let’s start with my favorite, and then return to alphabetical:

Lost: Six pre-strike episodes remain; potential for SIX more this year!

24: Returning 01/09

Last night, thousands of members from the Writers Guild gathered on both coasts (WGA East in NYC, WGA West in Los Angeles). Various sources are reporting that there is a tentative deal on the table, and that the members of the WGA will decide by tomorrow whether or not the Strike continues. On Tuesday, members will then cast their votes whether or not to agree to the terms of the new deal, and Hollywood might be back to work as early as Wednesday. That is a cautiously optimistic best-case-scenario, but I believe we (the fans) should continue to support the writers and be patient as this unfolds.

Patrick Verrone, President of the WGA West, released the following statement yesterday (which I am excerpting; the entire letter can be found on Deadline Hollywood Daily):

We have a tentative deal.

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.”

Over these three difficult months, we shut down production of nearly
all scripted content in TV and film and had a serious impact on the
business of our employers in ways they did not expect and were hard
pressed to deflect. Nevertheless, an ongoing struggle against seven,
multinational media conglomerates, no matter how successful, is
exhausting, taking an enormous personal toll on our members and
countless others. As such, 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. We activated, engaged,
and involved the membership of our Guilds with a solidarity that has
never before occurred. We developed a captains system and a
communications structure that used the Internet to build bonds within
our membership and beyond. We earned the backing of other unions and
their members worldwide, the respect of elected leaders and politicians
throughout the nation, and the overwhelming support of fans and the
general public. Our thanks to all of them, and to the staffs at both
Guilds who have worked so long and patiently to help us all.

I will update this post when additional details emerge.

Yes, I watch shows other than Lost, although it may not seem like it at the moment.

It pains me to report that one of the best shows on television is in danger of being canceled. Not only did NBC move the series to Friday nights (an insulting assumption that we’d forget when it’s on otherwise, and a huge mistake), the head of NBC Entertainment recently made the following statements about one of my favorite hours of TV:

“I love it. You love it. Unfortunately, no one watches it. That’s the
thing with shows. People have to watch them. We’re NBC, we have a
reputation to uphold. And, man, with this writers’ strike … well,
we’ll see what we can do.”

It would be a damn shame to discontinue FNL for many reasons, one of which is that Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton haven’t received their Emmys or Golden Globes yet (nominations and statues). Let’s just hope that another network picks up where NBC leaves off.  ESPN, for instance…

Have a nice weekend! Should there be major developments in the Writers Strike, I will be sure to post updates.

Additional blog now posted (Friday night). And I’m not quite finished with this episode yet…