Responding to Tuesday's reports that not only was Carson Daly choosing to be the first late night talk show host to cross the WGA picket line and return to work without his striking scribes, but that he'd undertaken a hilariously ill-advised e-mail campaign to organize friends and family into an ad-hoc staff of gag-writing scabs, the Guild announced late yesterday that it was tearing every last TRL-era Tiger Beat magazine cover featuring Daly's smirking image from their headquarters' walls in protest, releasing this statement of Official Disappointment:

The Smoking Gun has obtained an e-mail circulated by picket-line-crossing late-night talk show host Carson Daly, in which he personally petitions friends, family, and co-workers to call in to a "joke hotline," on which they can contribute some pro bono comic material for him to play on the air.

A little earlier this afternoon, striking horror writers within the WGA membership organized their own theme-picket at the Warner Bros. lot, where an exorcism was staged to rid the studio of the "demons of greed" that have thus far prevented them from reaching a fair deal with the Guild. A tipster tells us that the mob invoked a chant of "We Eat Scabs" as holy water was sprinkled on the structure, but we're afraid that no combination of prayer and blessed liquid would be enough to overcome the executive-led, ritualistic sacrifice of helpless assistants taking place just inside the lot's walls, an infernal countermeasure which seems like it would be more than sufficient in repelling the throng's evil-dispelling charms.

· A brave Carson Daly will be the first late-night talk show host to cross the picket line and attempt to return to work without a writing staff; upon his arrival at the studio, Daly will be awkwardly reminded by a security guard that his show was canceled two years ago. [THR]
· I'm Not There, expected to duke it out in every Oscar category you got with similarly ambitious music biopic Walk Hard, leads the Independent Spirit Award nominations with four. Angelina Jolie flop A Mighty Heart and Ang Lee's artsy, NC-17 fuckfest Lust, Caution received three nods each. [Variety]

Though the super-secret contract talks that WGA and AMPTP officials are currently conducting in a hidden, maximum-security bunker inside a hollowed-out section of hillside behind the Hollywood sign seems to have temporarily inspired feelings of "cautious optimism" in members of the warring factions who've been starved for hope entering this fourth week of the strike, we fear a major setback is in the offing.

What seems to be the going rate for a slightly used WGA picket sign on eBay? An auction for one of the Guild's stock signs closed at $68 yesterday, but we imagine that if someone wanted to supplement her college strike fund by making one of the more creative efforts seen at the rallies available, the bidding would quickly reach the quadruple digits. [eBay]

· With talks between the WGA and AMPTP resuming this morning, a Variety strike poll reveals that respondents believe that the Writers Guild is doing a much better job of "representing its side of the battle more forcefully and more clearly" than the studios. Indeed, the Companies might have to resort to having lead negotiator Nicholas "J. Nicky 3" Counter star in his own "Studio Boi" video if they hope to keep pace with their adversaries' latest, cutting-edge attempt at virally spreading their message. [Variety]

· Not to be outdone by SNL colleague Fred "Roger Trevanti" Armisen's strike video, Will Forte and Kristen Wiig demonstrate the many exciting, non-writing uses for the pencils WGA members put down 17 days ago.
· Those strike-related ads in the trades just keep getting nastier and more confrontational, don't they?
· We would've accepted "because that's what eventually happens when you give a trampy 17-year-old millions of dollars" as a reason for why Britney Spears' life has become such a mess, but Dr. Drew has a more detailed theory.
· Ernest Borgnine: still alive. Who knew? It's an early Christmas miracle!
· Because there's no such animal as the "holiday weekend" in the Gawker Media zoo, we'll be here on Friday morning for a half-day of posting before indulging our suicidal impulse to join the Black Friday mob at the Beverly Center, where we will likely die in the mindless pursuit of post-Thanksgiving bargains. Happy Turkey Day, friends!

Over at Postsecret, the leading online repository of anonymous confessions, a writer reveals that he or she welcomes the forced respite the strike provides from having to churn out crap that pays the bills. Of course, as discussed earlier, the conflicted scribe is probably also happy to have another excuse to put off filling up a blank Final Draft screen for a while. [Postsecret]

Once alerted that there would be delicious scones (courtesy of the generous cater-agents of CAA) at yesterday's WGA Solidarity March on Hollywood Blvd., there was no way to keep Defamer videographer/sweet-toothed pastry-junkie Molly McAleer from rushing to the scene of the 4,000-protestor strong rally. And while she mercifully kept the throng's snacking activities off-camera (nobody wants to watch video of writers eating—anyone who's seen a sitcom staff attack the craft services table during a runthrough knows what we're talking about), she did entice a number of Guild picketers to share their favorite strike anthems, all of which exhibited a lyrical complexity that eclipsed the work of featured performer Alicia Keys.

The picketers (and, we suspect, pretty much everyone else who works in Hollywood) are off for the day and en route to wherever they're celebrating Thanksgiving, but we've still got enough links for one last pre-holiday round-up:

· The studios once again take a shot at getting their side of the ongoing contract dispute onto the YouTubes, this time wisely choosing a more persuasive messenger than Leave the AMPTP Alone Guy.
· Bill Nye the Science Guy vs. His Fake, Gardening-Poisoning Wife.
· The paparazzi are failing to show proper respect for the pregnant Christina Aguilera's baby-making parts.
· Report: Britney Spears devirginized at 14—and not by Justin Timberlake. Your world has officially been rocked.

[Note: UPDATE after the jump!] In what represents a clear snacking downgrade from the delicious, piping hot churros that had previously won CAA near-universal acclaim from the striking-writer community, the evil agenting monolith's conspicuously overdressed, munchie-proferring emissaries were spotted at this afternoon's Hollywood Blvd. Solidarity March distributing—audible gasp!—scones.

All of this strike-provided idle time seems like a perfect opportunity for reflection on the WGA protests of the past; while Var revisited The Big One of '88 today, the LAT invites one of the America's Next Top Model story editors who found himself without a job following last year's Guild-orchestrated walkout to relive his experiences on that ill-fated, but attractively staffed , picket line. [LAT]

Just as some optimistic and industrious Shark assistants turned the strike to their advantage, rolling up their shirtsleeves to whip up a refreshing batch of Nick Counter-Eats-Farts-erade, there are the rare silver linings to the ongoing work-stoppage, not the least of which was a benefit live performance of an all-new episode of 30 Rock, performed last night by the show's cast for a lucky audience at New York's Upright Citizen's Brigade theater. (The evening before, SNL players performed two-hours' worth of too-hot-for-TV sketches in the same space.) The Rock blog reports have already begun to roll in, breathlessly describing the electrifying atmosphere around the once-in-a-lifetime sitcom-happening, while dutifully adhering to Tina Fey's requests not to divulge any plot points of the already-taped show. ("'Cause, you know, the show's kind of like Heroes.") A round-up from around the web:
· The show was "ridiculously awesome," as much for the actual episode as for the luxury of being able to be catch a rare glimpse at the cast's table-read-only displays of mutual appreciation, including Alec Baldwin cracking up "at the word 'tampon' and Tracy Morgan shaking his head laughing at a Jane Krakowski deaf joke." [BWE]

·The strike indefinitely delays two more star-studded productions, with Johnny Depp's Shantaram and Nine, Chicago director Rob Marshall's next musical (with Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz), having their planned early-2008 start dates postponed. [Variety]
· The WGA agrees not to picket Paramount on December 1st, answering Elizabeth Taylor's appeal not to interfere with her benefit performance of "Love Letters" with all their loud chanting and potentially legend-upstaging strike-dancing. [Variety]
· Meanwhile, CBS News employees have overwhelmingly authorized a strike of their own, allowing the WGA to fight a two-front war if it so chooses. [Variety]

As Hollywood prepares to bury those still-nagging feelings of labor-strife-related dread in turkey, stuffing, and sweet potatoes, here's the morning's round-up of strike news:

In his latest Huffington Post dispatch, 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin, despite trying to keep things light by first calling attention to something that gives him joy—Ryan Gosling's great work in Lars and the Real Girl— finally succumbs to despair: "I miss my make-up artist, Stacey Panepinto. I miss my hairstylist, Richard Esposito. I miss all of the 30 ROCK cast and crew, who I don't see anymore because of this motherfucking, motherfucking, motherfucking strike." While he's understandably anguished by the unpleasant consequences of the strike, we're sure that the consummate artist will find a way to channel those feelings into tonight's live performance of his sitcom, delivering an especially poignant performance of the bravura moment that's sure to bring him an Emmy, one so impassioned that those in attendance will swear he momentarily transformed into Jimmie Walker. [HuffPo]

As Hollywood breathes a collective—if cautious—sigh of relief following some happy weekend news, here's the morning round-up of StrikeWatch news: