Writers Guild Bigwigs See a Happy Ending

"This is the best deal this guild has bargained in 30 years," he boasted, though he also acknowledged that "it is not all we hoped for and it is not all we deserved."

Guild negotiators went in with three goals, Verrone explained. First, jurisdiction of new media. "We achieved that goal." he said. Second, a provision that writers will be paid residuals for programming streamed on the Internet in the third year of the three-year deal.

The third goal, which was not achieved, he said, was to represent writers of reality and animation programming, who are currently not covered by the WGA -- which is why you're seeing so much reality programming on the broadcast networks' prime-time lineups.

"We look forward to continuing those efforts," Verrone said, because people working in those genres "do not receive the benefits they expect or they deserve."

And yet, once again, the guild could not refrain from nicking reality television: Verrone told reporters he'd like to express his "personal gratitude to the fans who understood, and tolerated, three months of reruns and reality TV."

This pales in comparison, though, with the "speechless" video that guild members created for a strike Web site; in it, actor Alan Cumming calls Moviephone to find out what films are playing and the recording says:

For "The Bachelor: The Movie," press 1.

For "Dancing With the Stars: The Movie, Part 4," press 2.

For "American Idol: The Movie," press 6.

The point of Verrone's remark was that without writers, you're going to be stuck with this garbage, but it's still got to sting if you're a reality show writer whom Verrone would like to "represent."

While the votes have not been conducted yet, Verrone, WGA-E President Michael Winship (who was at the news conference via telephone), WGA-W Executive Director and Chief Negotiator David Young and WGA Negotiating Committee Chairman John F. Bowman seemed very confident that these votes would sail through. How confident? Well, in his speech, Verrone thanked his wife.

He also thanked Peter Chernin, president and COO of Fox parent News Corp., and Walt Disney Co. President and CEO Robert Iger, who, along with CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, Verrone said, got the talks back on track after three months "getting nowhere" with the negotiators for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.