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With the giant, overturned hourglass in the courtyard of the Hollywood & Highland complex trickling sand until its final grains pass through it at the strike of midnight on February 24, producers of the Oscars ceremony are continuing to stick to their pledge that come hell or high water, audiences looking for four-plus mind-numbing hours of premium trophy distribution won't walk away disappointed:

The film academy is planning two Oscar shows: "The show we would love to do and ... a show that we would prefer not to do," [Academy president Sid] Ganis said.

The traditional, star-studded glamour-fest is in the works in case an agreement is reached. If not, organizers are working on a second show that will include "history and packages of film and concepts that are not normally ones that we would have for the show if we were moving straight ahead."

An Academy spokeswoman says contact has been made with the WGA, so let's just keep our fingers crossed that the ceremony will proceed as usual. God knows we don't want the witness the alternative—just reading Ganis's description of their backup plans instantly caused us to glaze over, tuning out about mid-sentence see what other Academy presidents were talking about on the internet today. Hey—Neil Portnow flew to Nashville to beg Vince Gill to show up to the Grammys! Neat!