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« WGA Post-Strike Watch: News About Returning Shows
WGA Boards Meet and Approve Deal: Showrunners Can Return to Work Monday
The boards for both branches of the Writers Guild of America on Sunday unanimously approved the tentative deal reached for a new contract. The boards are also taking the final decision on lifting the strike to membership in a vote on Tuesday.
In the meantime, showrunners will get going even sooner, heading back to work Monday to get crews set up and production facilities going again, as will writers who have producing duties on their shows. Ballots to ratify the three-year deal are also going out to members, and will be returned within a 10-12 day period.
Patric Verrone commented on the deal agreement, saying, "This is the best deal this guild has bargained for in 30 years."
Verrone also went on to praise the work of the three CEOs who stepped up in the decisive moments of negotiations, including News Corp. chief Peter Chernin, Disney head Robert Iger and CBS top dog Leslie Moonves. Until the business chiefs sat down at the bargaining table, Verrone said, "We spent about three months getting nowhere."
In light of the huge support among writers for the deals in members' meetings on both coasts Saturday, it's expected that they'll be in favor to end the strike in Tuesday's vote, and be able to return to work as early as Wednesday. For writers pushed out of contracts in force majeure situations, many will be hired back, but in a case-by-case scenario, in which the status of each show will affect the deals.
As the final logistical steps are taking place, at least most of Hollywood will start getting back into motion. — Anna Dimond
More WGA strike coverage:
• Outside the WGA West Meeting: Writers React
• Tentative Deal Struck: Writers to Vote, Could Start Work by Wednesday
• WGA Prez Gives Tentative Deal Thumbs-up, But Will Members Agree?
• NEW CHART! After the Strike: When Your Shows Will Return
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Feb 10, 2008 6:18 PM
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I guess this means it's really, finally over! 
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Feb 10, 2008 6:57 PM
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I wonder how many guild members still like ol' Verrone. He led the WGA into a strike and kept thousnds of people out of work for months. And then caves faster than the French in WWII. This deal could have been reached without a day of striking. All the things Verrone said he would get, he gave up, and for nothing in return! The new media deal is essentially the same (maybe worse, actually) than what the DGA got, and they struck not one day!
This is what a union gets you. They promised you the sky, then, when the market spoke and showed them the truth, they folded and called it victory. This union is doing the writers no good at all. They would do well to disband it.
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Feb 10, 2008 6:57 PM
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Don't let those silly facts get in the way of your opinion.
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Feb 10, 2008 7:05 PM
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I, for one, am very happy to hear this. I want my 30 Rock and Office back.
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Feb 10, 2008 7:58 PM
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Well, Alexis, seeing as how Nikki Finke, United Hollywood, and TV Guide all report most writers being happy with the result of the strike and their leadership, I'd say the chance of most writers being really pissed with the result of the strike and their leadership is very small indeed.
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Feb 10, 2008 8:10 PM
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Let's just be happy its over for now and wait for the next shoe to drop at the end of June.
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Feb 10, 2008 8:23 PM
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There won't be a strike at the end of June. Mark my words.
Nobody in Hollywood is going to want to go through another strike that quickly. Everyone involved will do their best to avoid it.
I'm not worried at all.
I'm just glad that this strike is over. Though I've dumped a lot of shows from my Tivo list that I won't be adding back, so I can at least thank it for that.
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Feb 10, 2008 9:23 PM
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THANK GOODNESS! Finally! I need my Heroes, Pushing Daisies, Ugly Betty, CSI:NY, CSI: Miami back. Though I have had Kyle XY and T:TSCC (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) to keep me company, I miss my old shows. HOORAY FOR MAKING A DEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Feb 10, 2008 11:22 PM
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I am so happy to hear that the strike is finally over, and the writers got a good deal! Can't wait to get some fresh episodes come spring.
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Feb 10, 2008 11:26 PM
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Yippie! 
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Feb 11, 2008 1:50 AM
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"I wonder how many guild members still like ol' Verrone. He led the WGA into a strike and kept thousnds of people out of work for months. And then caves faster than the French in WWII. This deal could have been reached without a day of striking. All the things Verrone said he would get, he gave up, and for nothing in return! The new media deal is essentially the same (maybe worse, actually) than what the DGA got, and they struck not one day!"
I have to wonder if statements like this are trolling, or if someone is really this misinformed about the details of this strike. Worse than the DGA deal? Did you even read the WGA proposal or compare the two?
Verrone got MUCH more than was originally offered, including a number of things the studios said they'd never allow. It's a negotiation, the writers gave some things up, but got some big gains in return. The two parties have to meet halfway, and I think the studios gave up more than the writers in this case.
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Feb 11, 2008 9:30 AM
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YIPPEE!!! the strike is finally over. I just hope my shows will come back, it looks like Ghost Whisperer and Bones are yet to be determined if they will return and that is a shame, these two shows are good ones.
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Feb 11, 2008 9:38 AM
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I'm not sure I'll be returning back to TV this season. Maybe next... this season is shot.
I also wonder how many writers "returning" to work will find that they've been fired. Why not, in light of budget cuts and whatnot?
On a side note: I'm curious to see how much "bad blood" is brewing between the innocent who lost work and jobs over the writers being on strike. This isn't over yet, folks.
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Feb 11, 2008 12:01 PM
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I think that most TV junkies will go back to watching their favorite shows as soon as they come back. There will be some shows losing viewers, but that will mostly be people who were ambivalent already and only watched a show because there was nothing else on.
I don't see why writers would be fired, other than shows getting cancelled. And I don't think we'll see budget cuts on successful shows - the one questionable factor is how many pilots will get made and what those budgets will be.
But putting an episode of scripted TV on the air requires a writer, it's not like you can save money on an episode of CSI by somehow conjuring it from thin air instead of paying a writer to write the script.
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Feb 11, 2008 12:11 PM
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