Joss Whedon

The Buffy creator issues a rallying cry to striking writers.

Game over? The drumroll, please, as the Writers Guild prepares to brief members on Saturday on the deal that may end the strike.

It surprises naive Hollywoodland to see Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, shrieking in Variety that the guild hasn’t given a verdict on the fate of the Oscars. The guild has said publicly and repeatedly that it won’t grant a waiver if there’s no deal. If, on Saturday, the deal is greeted with thunderous applause, the Oscars will go forward.

Really, Sid, these folks have staked their livelihoods, and in some cases forfeited a fortune, in the hope of getting a deal that means something to them. Why would they stop now and say, "OK—we’re giving up what leverage we have in holding the fate of the Oscars over ABC’s head, because …" Because why?

We refer to a post by writer Joss Whedon on the United Hollywood Web site, which hints that he still feels he has some vampire slaying to do. Speaking of the Oscar telecast, he writes: "[It’s] a f%$#ing awards show. It’s a vanity fair. It’s a blip. We’re fighting (fighting, remember?) for the future of our union, our profession, our art. If that fight carries us through the Holy Night when Oscar was born, that’s just too bad."

Whedon obviously fears that strike fatigue has reached such a degree that writers will applaud thunderously even if the deal isn’t good. He inveighs against that. "This is not over," he writes, perhaps with more hope than reason. "Nor is it close. Until the moment it is over, it can never be close. Because if we see the finish line we will flag and they are absolutely counting on us to do that. … Remember what they’ve done. Remember what they’re trying to take from us. FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT."

Keep your ears open on Saturday night. Listen and try to figure out: Is that the sound of thunder, or thunderous applause?