The last two weeks came and went with little in the way of information coming from the informal talks between the WGA and the AMPTP.  Friday, several media outlets including Dave McNary at Variety were reporting that talks had essentially broken down and an announcement from the AMPTP of its intent to walk away would be forthcoming.  I confirmed this story with one of my studio sources.  Then late Friday, suddenly something changed.  Nikki Finke reported that there had been a breakthrough in the negotiations and a deal might be around the corner.  By late Saturday, UnitedHollywood.com, the unofficial website of the striking writers posted the following:

“UH has confirmed from off-the-record sources that progress is indeed being made in the informal talks, and that creative solutions to the biggest differences between the AMPTP and the WGA have gotten the tentative and cautious approval of both sides.

This does not mean there is a deal in principle yet. It means we may, finally, be very close to one — as close as days away.

And while we’re cautiously optimistic about what we’re hearing, it comes with a real caveat.

Just as happened with the DGA deal, points that are agreed to in informal negotiation can be thought of as points on a deal memo — but it’s the drafting language that comes from hammering out those points that makes them legally binding. And our sources say that draft language doesn’t yet exist. That’s a big part of what will be happening in the next few days, as negotiations continue.”

So, what does this all mean?  Who knows?  From the sound of things we may be coming to the end of this strike soon.  I for one will start holding my breath when a contract is put to a vote and not a moment sooner.  However, it looks like we might not have to wait for formal negotiations to take place.  Michael Cieply of the New York Times is reporting both sides have said that they don’t see a need to have a formal negotiation process with the progress they have made and the next several days of informal bargaining should be enough to strike a deal.

The negotiations have long been held up by the disagreement between the WGA and AMPTP over internet usage.  Apparently, both sides have finally found a way around these roadblocks and it’s down to the overall contract language.  But I have to wonder how all this happened in such a short period of time.  How did we go from the sides nearly walking away early Friday to a near deal Saturday?  I have my suspicions and can only speculate but I think it’s no surprise that a week after Peter Chernin left the negotiations for his trip that things were about to fall apart.  And it’s equally curious that Friday, the day he returns to the table, we might actually have a deal.  Chernin has been considered a moderate among the producers and has been key to moving things along during these informal talks.  Once he left there was nobody to fill that void.  Once he returned, things got back on track and here we are.  I’m sure the real story will come out one day.

Once there is confirmation that the strike is in fact over I’ll be putting a list together of which televisions shows are done for the year regardless of the contract and which might be able to produce some additional episodes before the end of the season.

So let’s all hope for the best!  Perhaps the war is finally over.