The Dim Flicker of Hope's Candle

Today, the WGA and the AMPTP return to the negotiating table after a scant three weeks off the job. In light of the rhetoric spewing from both sides as recently as two weeks ago, color me surprised but optimistic. As I wrote about on Saturday, strikes that end quickly are the ones in which things are achieved for one side or the other. One's instinct is to think that the writers may be close to a pretty serious win, but that may merely be a result of the fact that the WGA is loud and the AMPTP has remained -- Variety advertisements aside -- relatively quiet and faceless. Either way, there's reason to be optimistic, because neither side wins if negotiations break down at this point.

Which brings us to this article from Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily. Finke's reporting has been invaluable over the last three weeks, and when she says that "a very reliable source" is telling her that there's a deal "seemingly in place", it's worth taking notice. Finke herself is very cautious in the post, and I think that warrants due skepticism from us out here in the Mobility -- either the agreement is tenuous enough to fall apart, or the source was unsure (she quotes him/her as saying "it's already done, basically" [emphasis mine]), or something. I think part of the caution she exhibits may be due to the fact that the deal is supposed to be done "before Christmas" as opposed to this week, indicating that not all the kinks have been worked out. If it's true, though, a good portion of the season may be salvaged. Just how much is hard to say -- we'll almost certainly see some down time as a result of what would be, at that point, a two-month-long work stoppage -- but at the very least, "The Office" may have an opportunity to save was has been, to date, a distinctly lackluster season.

CBS News has a fairly boilerplate article about the return of the sides to the table, but it does add some minor fuel to the idea that the AMPTP may be buckling: While studios have been talking about the abundance of unproduced scripts they have, it appears that some of the ones they were counting on -- including the sequel to "The Da Vinci Code" -- are unfinished and will remain so until the WGA comes back to work.

New Republic/CBS News: Writer Mark Evanier gives a little (somewhat self-serving) history of WGA labor unrest going back seventy-five years. Most notable for an illustration of the above point about the legnth of strikes: In 1985, the WGA went on strike with a divided membership, unity collapsed after three weeks, and they got their asses handed to them in the subsequent negotiations. Their position -- or rather, their dedication to it -- wasn't strong enough to support aggressive bargaining tactics. I suspect that one side or the other may have had that happen this time, and it doesn't seem likely to be the writers -- though again, that could all be spin and PR.

Entertainment Weekly reports that the talks are taking place -- probably as we type -- at an undisclosed location, and under media blackout. Picketers, who (like yours truly) took last week off to break bread with family and friends, are back out today despite positive action in the boardroom. The article links to Get Back in that Room, a blog that has catalogued more than 400 layoffs since the start of the strike.

ABC News: With talk shows going dark, Presidential hopefuls, who have made appearances on "Letterman" and "The Daily Show" staples of their campaigns in the last few go-rounds, are out a source of publicity -- but perpetual punching bags like Hilary Clinton are also getting a break from the barbs of late nite wags.

Anyway. I was trying to embed a YouTube video into this post, in which Daily Show writers take their usual approach and apply it to the AMPTP, but YouTube has made that more complicated, so fuck it, I'll just post a link. The video is actually kind of old news, and I actually find it interesting more as an object lesson in the symbiosis of writers and actors than anything else. The segment is hosted by writer Jason Ross, and he mouths words that sound exactly like what Jon Stewart says every night -- and they're still funny, but not nearly as funny. You can hear the echo of Stewart's voice in Ross's much less practiced delivery. But you also see that you must be hearing the echo of Ross's voice in Stewart's every time he goes on television. It's very interesting. Also includes a guest shot from John Oliver, TDS's Brit-in-residence.