This is still a rumor, but it's definitely gaining steam -- word is spreading that the DGA has finalized a deal with the congloms, and will announce the deal tomorrow.

We don't know what the terms of the deal will be, if indeed it does exist. We're not going to speculate because, if it's true, we'll find out the specifics soon enough.

But we over at UH will make one suggestion: everyone stay

RUMOR: A group of "A-list" writers is holding a meeting this weekend to formulate strategy on how to "force" the WGA to accept whatever deal the DGA signs with the AMPTP.
STATUS: Confusion reigns!

United Hollywood has been in touch with both WGA insiders and Nikki Finke today regarding the truth here. Some UH contributors are now convinced that the group is very real, numbers approximately

This was sent to membership Friday night, asking for patience as the WGA assesses the deal and moves foward with the AMPTP:

To Our Fellow Members,

As you know, the Directors Guild announced yesterday that it has reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. We are waiting for the full terms of the deal to be made available so that we can carefully analyze and evaluate the language and numbers.

So, I guess everyone got tired of all the Rachael Ray divorce rumors and decided to get a little creative. This time, the rumor is that Rachael Ray threw a fit on a commercial set, refused to drink Dunkin' Donuts coffee (for which she is a spokeswoman), and demanded Starbucks coffee.

RUMOR: WGA members are starting to hire "freelance picketers" to do their strike duty.
STATUS: Unconfirmed

Universal strike captain Jan Kimbrough noticed this Craig's List posting on Day Four:Reply to: gigs-473080663@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-11-08, 3:15PM PST

I can't make it to my picket tomorrow and I need somebody to take my place. I want to go see friends in San Diego while I have time off work, and I'll pay somebody $40 to cover my four-hour shift. My strike "captain" doesn't care as long as there are people out there. I'll give you my shirt and signs and all that crap.

If this works out on Friday then let's do it next week too. I'd really rather not have to deal with it.

As Deadline Hollywood reports, the DGA announced today that formal negotiations are commencing with the AMPTP beginning tomorrow (yes, that's Saturday.)

You can see Patric Verrone's comments below; as he states and as he's said many times before, we all hope the DGA makes a deal that will get the town back to work. However, if the deal they make doesn't address the needs of writers, the WGA is

The Weinstein Co. said today it is close to reaching a deal with the WGA. Company officials said they expected the interim agreement to be signed by the end of the today, Thursday.

If the deal is finalized, it would mark the second independent studio deal the WGA has reached thus far during the strike. Monday, the WGA made a separate agreement with United Artists.

More when (if) this becomes

Variety is announcing that the DGA has reached a deal with the AMPTP. We at UH haven't yet gotten a copy of this deal yet, but as soon as we do, we'll be bringing you any information we have on what the terms are.

Stay tuned, we'll have more soon....

Another rumor circulated yesterday that the Yankees were still interested in signing Mike Lowell, even if the deal to bring back Alex Rodriguez does indeed happen. They want Lowell to switch over to first base.

That won't happen, as Lowell is on record as having said he won't switch from third base to first. A TV station in Boston has reported that four teams have offered Lowell a four-year deal: New York, St. Louis, Atlanta and the LA Angels. The other teams want to make Lowell their regular third baseman. So now the ball is in Lowell's court. I'm sure Lowell has gone back to the Sox with these offers, and it will be up to Lowell and the Sox to come up with an agreement that satisifies Mike. If the Sox don't budge from their last offer, Lowell may indeed leave. But my gut feeling is that they will meet somewhere in the middle and he will stay in Boston.

Monday, we reported that rumors were swirling claiming the DGA had made a deal with the AMPTP. While admittedly unconfirmed, the whispers were coming from so many corners, we felt we had to at least tell folks what we were hearing.

But stop the presses (or at least don't hit the blog "Publish" button just yet).

Based on off-the-record information from two credible sources we contacted in order

Yes, we are hearing the same rumors you're hearing. Repeat: rumors. And last time we all got too excited by such unsubstantiated expectations, well, you know.

So as you get your third email and/or phone call from the guy who knows somebody who talked to the woman who heard from a person "who knows people who know," take a deep breath and read Ray Richmond's column yesterday on The Huffington

Why oh why do the tabloids have to make up stories? Well, I guess selling papers is their main motivation, but you'd think they could come up with something better than the latest story, which is that Oprah and Rachael Ray are feuding.

MSNBC debunked the rumor by citing an interview with Rachael and Oprah's best buddy, Gayle King, which aired yesterday. In the interview, Gayle says: “I read something that you two were fighting. I know that’s not true.” King told Ray.

Rachael commented that when the rumors stared back in January, she and Oprah "hadn’t even spoken in months." And when they did speak, it was all sunshine and happiness: "Ray told King that when the news broke, 'we had written each other sweet notes, it was her birthday and I sent her snack of the day and she sent me a note.'”

So, yet again, there's no truth to this rumor. Oprah and Rachael Ray are still buddies!

STATUS: False.
Several people called and/or emailed under the assumption that because negotiations had resumed, all the showrunners were back on the job. I'm guessing the origin of this rumor was a post on Variety's Scribe Vibe blog from the 26th: Many of TV's top showrunners headed back to the office this week, resuming their non-writing chores (such as editing, supervising post production, etc.). One studio exec said "more than half" of his series' showrunners were back at work, both on the comedy and drama side.

First time novelist Jay Asher debuts with a fantastic read! We meet Hannah Baker thru a series of farewell tape recordings. These aren't just any recordings, they are the last words of a suicidal teenager. Hannah is an ordinary high school student with all the problems of a teenager, when one boy starts one rumor. It snowballs from there. Her life is turned upside down when that one rumor becomes her entire reputation. We catch Hannah's story while Clay Jensen is listening to her tapes, which were mailed to him 2 weeks after her death. Hearing the voice of his high school crush is so hard, but Clay has to know why he one of Hannah's 13 reasons for leaving this world. I can't believe the concept of this book. It's one of those ideas that makes you wish you had thought of it first. It's a fantastic read and the characters are so real. If I recommend one book to anyone this year, it will most definitely be this one!

Just my 2 cents: we're in a very important moment in the strike. How we play out the end-game will color relationships for a long time afterwards. Reading the email traffic and the writer-bulletin boards, I have to admit, I'm concerned that people are feeling very emotional about the deal.

Personally, whenever I'm finalizing my own deal on a new project, I'm usually feeling pissed off that I

This piece was submitted by WGA member Ron Moore, creator of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica.

At this moment, informal talks are underway between representatives of the AMPTP and the leadership of the WGA. A news blackout is in effect and there will be precious little, if any, word leaking out from the talks and we’re all going to have to get by with rumor, speculation and the precious bits

It's just been announced that the WGA has made a deal with David Letterman’s company, Worldwide Pants. This is part of the larger strategy of making deals with individual companies within the AMPTP.

There are strong feelings about this on both sides – people who think we should have done the deal, people who think we shouldn’t have. Here’s why I think the WGA made the right choice:

Some

To My Fellow Members,

This afternoon, the Directors Guild announced that it would commence formal negotiations with the AMPTP tomorrow. In a joint press release with the Screen Actors Guild, the Writers Guilds, West and East, wished the DGA well and offered our hope that they achieve a fair deal that incorporates principles that will benefits all creative artists. We further stated that, while

Today, we received some solid information regarding the timetable the DGA is setting for its talks. Michael Apted, president of the DGA, and Gil Cates, their NegCom chair, issued a statement:"Because we want to give the WGA and the AMPTP more time to return to the negotiating table to conclude an agreement, the DGA will not schedule our negotiations to begin until after the New Year, and then, only if an appropriate basis for negotiations can be established."The rest of their statement is strongly worded and reflects the same frustration the WGA and the rest of Hollywood is feeling right now. The WGA wants a fair and reasonable deal. The DGA wants a fair and reasonable deal.

The other shoe has dropped. The DGA concluded their deal with the AMPTP. The congloms will spin their settlement with the DGA as proof that they are willing to close a deal quickly when their negotiating partners are reasonable business people. But we know that's just their high-priced PR consultants speaking. They didn't work out a deal with the WGA because they weren't willing to treat

The National Enquirer is at it again. I went back and looked and the rumor that Rachael Ray is getting a divorce have been going around since February 2007 (at least since I started tracking them). So, at what point do people think - "Hmmm - they were wrong for the entire last year so maybe they are wrong this time?" And how many times does Rachael have to deny it?

Although, I have to admit, every time these Rachael Ray divorce rumors come out, I always wonder if maybe this time its true. Maybe I think that because I give these tabloids too much credit because I just don't understand how they can keep publishing the same story over and over again.

MSNBC summarized the allegations of the newest story, with the headline "Rachael Ray’s marriage ‘broken beyond repair.’" It relied on "a source close to the couple" and here's the 411:

We've learned that a conference call took place this afternoon, with the heads of all the Hollywood agencies, to go through the DGA deal summary point by point.

Among other things that happened on that call was a unanimous feeling that the DGA deal was one they all felt was a good one, considering how entrenched the AMPTP has been up until now. Some aspects of the deal are even surprising (

Supposedly, to be officially announced today, Jay-Z in conjunction with the equally entrepreneurial Steve Stoute will be opening an ad agency. Translation Advertising, as it will be known, will focus on "helping marketers reach multicultural consumers."

It makes sense he would do something like this. He considers this "part of the natural growth" of his career. I mean, come on, dude's resume includes just about everything: Hustlin', Grammy-Winning, Owning NJ Nets, Clothier, Budweiser Select Brand Manager, Def Jam CEO (a position he just resigned). He's a brand manager - more specifically a perception manager. Always has been. He gets it. "There are people who don’t understand the culture," Jay said, referencing a commercial for a wireless carrier “that shows guys break-dancing in the phone store...It’s just not something we do.”

Uh oh. Never trust the smile of a crocodile?

Alex Ben Block of Hollywood Today reports that the AMPTP's public gestures of reconciliation may mask a plan to derail negotiations and cancel Christmas.There are signs the writers unity is working – reports of dissention among the ranks of the AMPTP’s key members; a softer stance by management in PR and negotiations in the past few days; and comments suggesting that management proposals are flexible.

However, what I am hearing is that this could be another sucker punch for the writers, who think they have finally broken though into a new level of negotiations where the two sides talk things over instead of talking at each other.
...
In its public utterances, the AMPTP continues to use its indoor voice, no doubt fine tuned by a new PR team.
...

Something's very different on the picket line.

Since Thanksgiving, the energy on the picket lines has fallen off. One picketer was even seen reading a book while he walked the picket line.

It seems like only yesterday that we were chanting to stop trucks from crossing the picket line or "2-4-6-8, Why won't they negotiate." The turnout and the energy paid off. The AMPTP rejoined us at the negotiating table and that was great.

But now....we wait....in a news blackout.

Getting the agreement to restart the negotiations felt climactic, because so much energy had to be expended to get the AMPTP to do the right thing, but "restarting" the talks didn't mean "concluding" them.

The media blackout continues, although it's getting hard to tell. Today's Los Angeles Times is running a front page story titled "Writers, Studios Outline A Deal."

It has some of the most detailed information to date on how the informal talks have gone so far. When we compare it to what our off-the-record sources are saying, it appears to be fairly accurate.

We'd like to highlight the

The following was submitted by SAG board member and regular U.H. contributor Justine Bateman.

Remember how at the beginning of the WGA's negotiations, the CEOs made a threat about getting rid of residuals? Well, by my reading, the DGA deal does that for TV.

Are you ready to trade an entire year's worth of TV residuals for a one-time fee of $1,200?

Currently, writers and directors both make

The Mets and Johan Santana reached an agreement tonight on a six-year extension to his current contract, so after he takes a physical tomorrow, he will officially become a member of the New York Mets, and his trade from the Twins goes into effect.

The deadline for getting a deal from the Mets was extended two hours tonight, and Santana personally came in on the negotiations. The deal he reached with the Mets is he will get a six-year extension to his current contract, worth $137.5 million, along with a seven million dollar signing bonus to his 2008 salary. The total of the seven years comes out to just over $150.7 million. He will average about $22 million per year over the life of the contract.

The Mets also gave him six guaranteed years, something the Mets were reluctant to do. This will also make Santana the highest paid pitcher ever.

The balance of power has just shifted in the National League, and this should make the Mets the odds on favorite to win the 2008 National League pennant.