At midnight last night, the WGA's contract with the studios expired. The good news: Hollywood has not yet been blanketed in the radioactive fallout from the settling of a city-spanning mushroom cloud. The bad news: Yesterday's negotiations did not end well. The dueling, end-of-day statements of the WGA and AMPTP kick off this morning's round-up of strike-related news:

The big day that everyone in Hollywood has been anticipating with a mixture of dread, fear and, well, a deeper kind of dread that chills to the very bone is finally here. At midnight tonight, the Writers Guild's contract with the studios expires, a development that could quickly lead to the potentially catastrophic strike that's been looming™ since the moment the expiring deal was signed. So where do things stand on Grab Your Ankles And Pray It Won't Hurt Too Much Day? A round-up:

Did you somehow arrive to work too late this morning to be handed your very own copy of the WGA Negotiations Update literature being handed out by the union's friendly, red-shirted flyer-distribution team at the entrances to every studio lot in town, or just generally feel left out of all the pre-contract-expiration fun?

As we've been reminded by a number of commenters and e-mailers this morning, referring to the members of the WGA's swarming strike-prevention team as "redshirts" (incidentally, a name many of the flyer distributors have given themselves ) creates an immediate and unfortunate association with the disposable Star Trek day-players whose uniform color invariably marked them for death. The application of this doom-connoting term seems a little premature at this time, as the presence of the Teamsters who might be soon joining the nameless ensigns on the picket line will probably make studio personnel think twice about trying to vaporize any of the crimson-appareled speed-bumps who block their path to work with the grills of their SUVs, allowing the nameless union ensigns to survive past the strike's dangerous first act.

Following yesterday afternoon's announcement that the Teamsters will honor WGA picket lines during a possible strike—even though the organization can't walk out while they still have a contract with the studios, individuals can make the decision not to cross the writers' line without being disciplined—a work stoppage suddenly seems (dare we allow ourselves to even say it?) less of an inevitability, as the possibility of Teamster muscle backing up the scribes is certainly more intimidating than the presence of the skinny-armed reinforcements the union called upon the last time they needed some back-up. Additionally, a tipster tells us that the Guild already had about 15 members of its red-shirted army stationed outside of the Sony lot at 7 AM (do let us know where else you spot them), handing out "Negotiation Update" flyers urging workers to, "Please encourage the companies to bargain seriously with the Writers Guild, and let the writers on your show know you support their fair and reasonable stand."

· NBC Universal boss Jeff Zucker whines that his company wasn't making much money from iTunes downloads of its TV shows, and that the control-freaky Apple wouldn't allow him to "experiment" with raising the prices for one of its series. Also, the greedy Apple is apparently to blame for denying them revenue they would then immediately share with their beloved partners in content creation, their writers: "Apple sold millions of dollars worth of hardware off the back of our content and made a lot of money. They did not want to share in what they were making off the hardware or allow us to adjust pricing." [Variety]
· The feds are sending a nanny to tomorrow's contract negotiation session to make sure that WGA and AMPTP play nice in the final moments before a possible strike. [THR]

As the Hollywood StrikeWatch Doomsday Clock ticks louder (incidentally, we're still working on a prototype that can run in our sidebar and emit a blood-curdling scream every hour on the hour) with each second counted off until the midnight Wednesday expiration of the Writers Guild's contract with the studios, each new instance of pre-walkout saber-rattling takes on an increasing, bowel-loosening poignancy. Hoping to get in a couple of shots at WGA leadership before negotiations resume tomorrow, Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers president Nick "Why Won't These Greedy Fiends Listen To Reason?" Counter chatted with TV Week about his organization's frustration with the union's bargaining strategy:

We've forgotten in which direction we were supposed to be spun by the last WGA contract negotiation update, but the AMPTP is again taking a turn at trying to convince the world that all they want is peace, love, and happiness. (And maybe to trick writers into one tiny little concession that seems harmless enough now, but which will haunt the union for all time.) Following today's session, they've announced that they've made a Comprehensive Proposal that "lays the groundwork and provides a framework for an agreement." Also: "The goal is to reach an agreement by Oct. 31." Sounds good enough to us! Team Producers! The strike is off! [Variety]

Just a few minutes ago, WGA West president Fightin' Patric Verrone sent out an e-mail blast in response to today's Variety story about the Guild's alleged plan to give up on its reality organizing efforts, ripping the publication for splashing "baseless assertions" and "opinions" about their strategy all over its front page, and reassuring the exploited that it will picket as many shitty game shows as it takes to get them into the WGA family.

Perhaps realizing that local supermodel hopefuls like the ones who've previously supplemented the WGA's organizing efforts will be far too busy taking jobs on the 25 model-search-related shows the networks will rush into production in the event of a writers' strike to once again work the picket line, the Guild will no longer pursue jurisdiction over reality TV programming when negotiations resume on Thursday, according to a report in Variety. Emboldened by this concession, the studios will attempt to shake the Guild's resolve by unveiling a PowerPoint presentation demonstrating the ready availability of cheap, nonunion labor they can employ during a walkout, centered around the video samples posted to the promotional website of their first post-strike hire, Alex Perez:

Just in case you need a little extra help soiling up the pants on your writers' strike costume, here's the best of the public communication resulting from yesterday's "bargaining" session. From the WGA: "We have no intention of discussing the producers' rollback proposals. Not now, not ever. The producers asked to take Tuesday off to caucus." And says the Alliance: "Don't confuse process with progress. While we actually met today for the first time in 5 days, the WGA leadership again failed to address the producer's proposals. The WGA leadership dismissed the withdrawal of the producer's recoupment proposal as insignificant despite their claim that this was a major impediment to reaching an agreement. The WGA leadership has yet to make any movement on its own or the producer's proposals." Happy Tuesday! [WGA.org, AMPTP.org]

Have the studios finally decided it's time to stomp out the flaming bag of crazy they've allowed to burn on the negotiating room floor throughout their contract talks with the WGA? In a statement posted to the AMPTP's website, they've announced that they're going to drop their plan to recoup their costs before mailing out the little green residuals envelopes that keep now-filthy-rich visionaries like Marc Cherry from starving to death while they dream up their lucrative hits. But for now they're holding their ground on the Guild's proposal to increase their home video residuals, pledging to fight to the death to protect the buggering their shrewd forebears gave the writers on that issue years ago.

· The studios and networks are "outraged" with the WGA's strike rules, which AMPTP president Nick Counter says are "filled with threats of fines, punishment and blacklisting," and have threatened to sue the Guild if tries to interfere with its members' contractual delivery of all the rushed material they're trying to stockpile to help them survive a work stoppage. Unsurprisingly, the WGA has told the producers to invest the time they're spending worrying about its rules coming up with less ridiculous proposals. [Variety]
· A&E casts Benjamin Bratt as the lead in its pilot The Cleaner, instantly giving the project a legitimacy on the level of an average network series likely to be canceled after five poorly rated episodes. [THR]

Catching a strong whiff of the fetid stench of fear wafting off everyone currently drawing a paycheck in the entertainment industry, today's LAT offers up two pieces on the looming™ writers strike that seems increasingly inevitable every time the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers break from their negotiating sessions to issue dueling press releases decrying the other side's commitment to destroying Hollywood with their unchecked greed. In his column on a possible strike's impact on the TV landscape, Scott Collins travels back to 1988 in his Labor Strife Wayback Machine to see if there are any lessons to be learned from the network schedules resulting from that year's crippling work stoppage:

While we realize that the doomsday pronouncements now being issued with increasing frequency by both the Writers Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers following bargaining sessions in which the only thing being discussed seriously is which side is more committed to destroying Hollywood contain their fair share of public posturing, that knowledge doesn't stop our sphincters from reflexively tightening following each bellicose statement lamenting the inevitability of a disastrous work-stoppage.

Yesterday, the leadership of the Writers Guild sent out an e-mail blast asking its scribe army for strike authorization, hoping that letting the entire industry know that they've requested the ballistic launch codes from their membership will force the studios to take their just-revived contract negotiations seriously:

It's been a couple of weeks since we've been forced to contemplate the looming labor Armageddon that will soon bring about the end of the entertainment industry as we know it, preferring to distract ourselves with the contemplation of more pleasant matters, like daydreaming about the depilation techniques that Britney Spears uses to keep her ladyparts adequately prepped for its biweekly, post-meltdown paparazzi close-ups. Today's Variety hits our company town with an unwanted reality check (lede: "Strike fever's about to hit Hollywood hard!" [exclamation point ours]), reminding us that it's time once again for sabers to be rattled and expensive pants soiled as contract negotiations between the WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers resume tomorrow.