Writer's Strike: 86 Days

"With the writers' strike in its 86th day, the town's running out of patience -- despite hints of progress at informal meetings to lay the groundwork for official WGA negotiations to resume.

SAG muddied the picture Tuesday by blasting the DGA's two-week-old tentative deal, prompting an immediate rebuke of SAG's leaders by DGA president Michael Apted.

SAG's dismissal of the DGA deal may dash hopes that the directors pact would serve as a template for a WGA deal and get the scribes back to work in the next few weeks.

In a message to SAG members, prexy Alan Rosenberg and exec director Doug Allen amplified previous prounouncements that the DGA deal would not automatically be the model for a new SAG deal -- echoing what WGA leaders were saying before they launched the informal contract talks last week and began a news blackout.

"Some have rushed to anoint their deal as the 'solution' for the entertainment industry," Rosenberg and Allen said. "We believe that assessment is premature."