You Let Go, and I Let Go Too

The best thing about a break-up is make up sex, right? Maybe that argument is misguided, but there's two groups in Hollywood who are about to have a hard time fighting that statement without being called hypocrites. The AMPTP and WGA (also known as the Academy of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Writers' Guild of America) are about to realize the love they have for each other and share it with the world. Word on the street is the Writers' Strike is about to end, as early as this week. This will put an end to almost four months of negotiating and nitpicking between Hollywood's writers and producers.

Santa didn't come through for TV fans, but it looks like Cupid's going to pick up his slack.

There's lots of good news to come from this strike, so let's start small and let the love grow. First, a lot of great TV shows will be able to return to production in time for at least a few more shows in the 2007-2008 seasons. That means we won't have to wait until September to find out how Jan's lawsuit against Dunder Mifflin turns out!

Also, studios and writers will be able to salvage next season. One of the major concerns for networks was that the strike would throw off development season (AKA the time when pilots are shot and selected by networks as prospective series). It looks like if everyone keeps their noses to the grindstone, we could have some semblance of a normal television season, complete with debuting series, this fall.

The return of the writers means the return of the Masturbating Bear on Conan and Bill Maher's New Rules. "A Daily Show" can now be "The Daily Show," just as God intended it to be.

Finally, and most importantly, a resolution to this strike means that the Writers' Guild will finally be somewhere in the realm of fair compensation for the entertainment they provide to us, regardless of the medium. No longer will studios get a free pass on digitally downloaded movies or shows streamed on the Internet (or Interweb, as the hopefully-returning Tracy Jordan of "30 Rock" would say). I won't have to feel guilty watching (ok, or re-watching) episodes of "The Office" on nbc.com. The deal between the Writers' Guild and the AMPTP paves the way for the Screen Actors Guild (the union representing all of your favorite actors, like John "Big Tuna" Krasinski and Paul Dano, for example) to get an equally fair deal when its contract with the AMPTP runs out this summer.

Oh, and I guess it will be nice to have a star-studded audience when Juno sweeps the Oscars. Because, mark my words, NOTHING is worth losing the possibility of seeing Jason Bateman in a tuxedo. NOTHING. (Check out pictures from the Grammys if you don't believe me.)

Norma Rae has left the Arts blog (hopefully).

-Meryn, who knows no strike can resurrect "Arrested Development."