Writers Strike Finally Over

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The vote was cast by the Writers Guild of America and those who approved of the order was 92.5 per cent of the staggering number of 3,775 who have been out on strike for the last three months.

The strike action was taken by the writers after it was argued that additional pay was not being handed out to writers after sales on DVD and Internet viewings.

The height of the strikes impact on the studios was confirmed when the Golden Globes were cancelled. However, the BFTA's in London went ahead a few days ago, meaning it was the only time America stars could come over and publicise their recent work.

Other medias effected were TV and film production which has seen many long running series's come to a halt until a conclusion was found over the dispute. The WGA president Patric Verrone told the BBC:

"The strike is over. Our members have voted. Writers can go back to work."

The agreement was finalised on Sunday meaning that now writers will be given a fair share of the money made from TV shows shown and sold over the Internet and other forms of media such as DVD's.

Leslie Miinvers of CBS said, "At the end of the day, everybody won."

The Oscars will now take place as planned, following the A plan, instead of a throw together back up B plan. The B plan was going to be a rushed up virtual red carpet affair using film clips of stars instead of anyone in the flesh.

Gil Cates at the Kodak Theatre was overjoyed at throwing away the plans for the B show - he told his workers:

"We're doing the A show! This is a festive event! We're all so pleased. [After] three months of striking, we're happy to be here now."

It now means that around 7 or 8 of the shows script writers will have to write like mad between now and curtain up to get the show up and running in its usual polished and entertaining style.

Cates added, "Our writers are going to be writing very fast."

Big shows are expected to return as quickly as possible including Saturday Night Live (back on the 23rd) and House, starring the British born Hugh Laurie.

It now means that all hands are no deck and writers as well as production teams are going to have to work like stink to get shows out and done -- none of this is going to happen over night, even if writers return to work today, some shows will take weeks to hit the screens.

According to the L.A. Times, the strike had the following financial affect:

...Estimates the walkout cost the local economy more than $3 billion. Of that total, an estimated $772 million came from lost wages for writers and production workers, $981 million from various businesses that service the industry, including caterers and equipment rental houses, and $1.3 billion from the ripple effect of consumers not spending as much at retail shops, restaurants and car dealers.

Other shows to take the first run at the screen will be CSI, Grey's Anatomy, House and Desperate Housewives -- all leading the list of shows which will make a comeback first.