Well?
That's by far the most important question in all of entertainmentdom at this very moment, and some are even daring to answer in the affirmative. Go to Nikki Finke's authoritative blog where she posted yesterday that a source told her "things are looking very good..."
That got me to thinking: Is this just another red herring from the Big Bad Studios, who would love nothing more dearly than to rewind the clock back to the days of Louis B. Mayer - when creative types were told what to do and TO LIKE IT (OR ELSE)?
A source - a very savvy veteran producer who's worked on numerous award-winning shows - emailed this observation to me not long ago. It's valuable because it puts the current break-in-the-clouds in some perspective. (Meanwhile, we've all got our fingers crossed...)
"The writers I picketed with on the line today are of two camps... 'rumor is it's over soon,' vs. 'We're out until April.' But with the news blackout it's all speculation. No one in the trenches knows anything. My vibraphone is unplugged (to stay sane) so no vibes here either way.
The cynics among us say the 'progress' meme is being floated by the opposition so that when the truly bad deal is revealed and the WGA rightly walks away the writers can be slimed by the highly paid and very crafty PR team the AMPTP [studios] hired: 'We were making great progress -- the rumor mill said so -- and those damn greedy writers walked because they wanted more.'
"I hope I'm wrong. I hope the rumors are right. But the rumors are just that. Rumors.
"The AMPTP jacked us around twice before (urging us to take DVDs off the table to make progress then they stonewalled us. This stunt was followed by their later promise to keep negotiating but instead they walked away from the table at 6:30 pm and issued a strenuously pre-cooked full-of-crap press release at 6:31 telling the media that we stonewalled). You'll pardon us if we expect a third [screwing-over.] The congloms are playing for real. Their goal is break the Guild and eradicate the residual system. It's not personal. It's business. Our goal is to stay united and move the residual concept into the 21st Century. For us it's very personal. It's our lives and livelihoods. If the AMPTP does the WGA dirty in this round of talks then, in my opinion, There Will Be Blood. "
(How would L.B. himself - above - handle these troublesome scribes?)