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."

SAG Awards

"Javier Bardem won the supporting-actor prize for "No Country for Old Men" and "The Sopranos" swept the TV drama categories Sunday at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which could be the highlight of Hollywood's film-honors season if the writers strike undermines the Oscars.

With the SAG awards a reliable forecast for who will win at the Academy Awards, Bardem's victory may establish him as the favorite there. He had kind words for Joel and Ethan Coen, who directed "No Country" and adapted the screenplay from Cormac McCarthy's novel.

"Thank you, guys, for hiring me, and thank you for taking the hard work of choosing the good takes instead of the ones where I really sucked," said Bardem, who won for his chilling role as a relentless killer tracking a fortune in missing drug money.

Though it wrapped several months ago, "The Sopranos" took all three TV drama categories to open the ceremony, with James Gandolfini and Edie Falco taking both lead-acting prizes and the entire ensemble joining them to accept the award for overall cast performance."