SAG and AMPTP Arm Wrestle

And I got my suspicions who's going to win.

In a letter than went out on Thanksgiving eve, SAG president Alan Rosenberg blasted the corporations for harping on the bad economy.

"Like it's our fault," he added. "As middle-income actors, we are the victims of corporate greed. We didn't cause this turmoil."

Eight Hollywood CEOs fired back angrily on Sunday in an open letter to the entertainment industry, accusing SAG of being elitist and stressing that the majors have closed six other master contracts with the town's other major labor unions this year (the DGA, WGA, IATSE, casting directors and two with AFTRA).

"SAG is demanding that the entire industry literally throw out all of its hard work because it believes it deserves more than the 230,000 other working people in the business," the letter said. "To comply with SAG's demands would mean SAG merits more than everyone else. Saying yes would jeopardize the trust we have so carefully established with the rest of the industry -- at a time when this industry needs stability to ensure that together, we effectively evolve with shifting consumer demand."

The way this works is, the Screen Actors Guild will continue to rattle its saber, and the producers will keep saying "we don't care."

Do they both mean it? Are they both bluffing? Sure as hell beats me.

What I do know is that t.v. continues to get made but live-action features aren't being greenlit for production. Studios don't want to be caught with half a movie made if and when the actors walk off the set.

Seems like the conglomerates are loath to part with cash they're worried about going up in smoke, and the actors continue to want a deal that's a different shape than the ones molded by the other unions/guilds.

Why do I have thise feeling we're still in the middle of a mountainous fustercluck?