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In-the-know journalists like to tell readers that the Microsoft-Yahoo merger has been plotted out in advance. "Microsoft executives have followed a carefully crafted script to woo Yahoo's board and management," writes the Wall Street Journal. "Yahoo's directors must follow closely a long-established script," a story on CNNMoney informs us. The notion of a script — understood by elite reporters and insiders who graciously expatiate it to their eager readers — is appealing. But as the writers' strike proved to us, we live in an unscripted era. The Microsoft-Yahoo deal is M&A in the age of reality TV.

Like American Idol, there's a feedback mechanism. Investors move Yahoo and Microsoft's shares up and down, signaling their approval or disapproval of the latest twist. And employees vote with their feet. Anyone can be a star — or at least play a bit part.

"Get ready for Microsoft/Yahoo. It's happening," TechCrunch's Michael Arrington wrote last Friday, predicting that Yahoo's board would squeeze a few more dollars out of Microsoft. Instead, Yahoo's board of directors surprised Arrington — and everyone else — with their gumption.

No one predicted Microsoft would make an unsolicited offer for Yahoo. No one expected Yahoo's board to resist it. If there's really a script here, one thing's for sure: No one's following it. And the ad libs are better than anything we could have written.