Actors and studios said to be close to new contract

After weeks of back-channel talks, Hollywood's biggest actor union and the major studios appear to have broken their logjam and could be close to reaching an agreement on a new three-year contract, according to people close to the situation.

The agreement would come as a breakthrough for the Screen Actors Guild, whose members have been working without a contract for nine months as various attempts at negotiations with the studios collapsed amid acrimony and frustration. Talks picked up again after the union's former chief negotiator was ousted by moderates who took control of SAG's board in elections late last year.

Only a month ago, as the economy worsened and more workers in the entertainment industry found themselves without jobs and studios made cutbacks, many in Hollywood despaired the two sides would ever be able to resolve their differences.

Now SAG's interim executive director David White and a group of top entertainment executives are "very close" to resolving most of the remaining sticking points that caused negotiations to break off in February, according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations.

White has spent the last four weeks meeting privately with several top Hollywood executives, including Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger and News Corp. President Peter Chernin to end the standoff. Iger and Chernin played a pivotal role in helping to craft new contracts last year with Hollywood's directors and writers. They and other studio executives began talking among themselves last month about finding a way to end the impasse after receiving calls from big-name actors including Tom Hanks and George Clooney.

SAG spokeswoman Pamela Greenwalt said it was premature to comment about a breakthrough. "SAG's leadership remains engaged in ongoing efforts to secure a fair deal for SAG members," she said.

Although some points remain at issue, the agreement is said to include a compromise over the most contentious issue: when SAG's new contract would expire.

SAG leaders have insisted that their new contract run through June 2011 so that the union can line up its next round of negotiations with the expiring contracts of other Hollywood talent unions, including the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Writers Guild of America. The studios, however, have insisted on a three-year term, which would push SAG's contract expiration into 2012.

If studios agree to SAG's demand for a shorter contract term, the actors union would likely have to give up something in return.

SAG chief negotiator John McGuire, who just negotiated a new commercials contract for SAG members, is expected to present the outlines of an agreement to the guild's negotiating task force Tuesday, which could set the stage for the return of formal negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of the studios but is dominated by heads of the major media companies.

The union's national board could vote on a final contract when it meets April 18.

White and McGuire are under heavy pressure to deliver a contract to the union's 120,000 members. They were recently installed by a moderate majority on the union's board that accused former leaders of mishandling negotiations and pushing SAG toward the brink of a strike.

-- Richard Verrier

Checking in on the improved 'Fringe' and the must-see 'Dollhouse'

"Fringe" and "Dollhouse" were two of the most eagerly awaited shows of the 2008-09 TV season, but both have struggled to reach their potential.

“Fringe” (8 p.m. Central Tuesday, Fox) needed to dial down its frantic intensity and focus on its characters while supplying intriguing mysteries, and “Dollhouse” (8 p.m. Central Friday, Fox) had to make us feel that its characters were more than chess pieces to be moved around a board.

Both shows still have some plausibility problems, but when they’re telling emotionally charged, well-paced stories, it’s easier to shove those concerns aside. And it does a critic’s heart good to say that both Fox dramas have improved quite a bit since their debuts. 

The last couple of episodes of the Joss Whedon drama “Dollhouse,” which concerns operatives whose minds are frequently imprinted with new personalities, have moved the show firmly into must-see category. If the poignant and engrossing April 3 episode, “Needs,” is indicative of what the show is capable of, then I really hope “Dollhouse” gets a second season.

There's more on "Dollhouse" below, but first a few words about Tuesday's satisfying episode of "Fringe," a show about a trio of investigators -- wacky scientist Walter Bishop, his son Peter and FBI agent Olivia Dunham -- who look into strange crimes and unexplained phenomena. 

In the show’s early going, the soundtrack of “Fringe” could be overwhelming. Though composer Michael Giacchino (who also does great work for “Lost”) is undoubtedly one of the best in the business, the show’s score was used to beat the viewer into submission rather than subtly heighten the dramatic stakes.

Not just musically, but in every way, Tuesday’s “Fringe” is a song in a different key.

A mystery is supplied in the opening minutes, but the questions about what is going on build slowly. Nothing is oversold, either with overheated action or bombastic music, and the low-key tension allows the viewer to focus more on the spooky vibe and the characters' interactions. And if Peter (Joshua Jackson) and Olivia (Anna Torv) still aren’t quite as fleshed out as I might like, they’re growing on me. In any case, John Noble is so consistently wonderful as Walter that his performance is often reason enough to tune in.

Sure, the premise of Tuesday's episode is a bit out there and there are still some formulaic elements on the show (hey, what are the odds that mad scientist Walter will have something in his lab that will help solve the case?), but creatively, “Fringe” appears to be headed in a positive direction.

In a recent interview, “Fringe” executive producer Jeff Pinkner indicated that there would soon be more revelations about the show’s ongoing mythology, which involves elements of Olivia’s past as well as freakily compelling characters named Mr. Jones and the Observer. If “Fringe” stays consistently interesting and starts piling on juicy ongoing stories that are reminiscent of the early seasons of “The X-Files,” count me in as a regular viewer. 

As for "Dollhouse," the show was efficient and watchable in the early going, but I expected something more from a Whedon show. I wanted it to have more soul. 

At their best, Whedon's previous dramas -- "Angel," "Buffy" and "Firefly" -- did a truly impressive array of things right. They supplied a rich array of well-drawn characters, and the fluctuations and tensions in characters' complicated relationships were often the most interesting things about the shows -- which, by the way, also supplied humor, action, clever plots and philosophical questions about the meaning of life.

An easy mixture to replicate, right? Er, not really. 

However, as Whedon promised, in the middle of "Dollhouse's" debut season, the show switched gears. There's still plenty of action and suspense, but the last few episodes have deepened the characters in ways I wasn't quite sure was possible.

For one thing, the show has expanded the backstories of the supporting characters, and "Dollhouse" is now much more of an ensemble drama. That's a relief for a couple of reasons. For one thing, Whedon and his writers excel at that kind of show. For another thing, sometimes the focus on the energetic Eliza Dushku, who plays lead character Echo, has revealed that the actress is not quite as versatile as the role needs her to be. 

Over the last couple of weeks, by showing us Echo as she was in the past -- as an idealistic, brave and impetuous student named Caroline -- we now know how much she has lost, so it's possible to root for Echo (well, really, for Caroline) in a way we didn't before.

But in the finest Whedon tradition, things are pretty twisty when it comes to the folks in charge. Yes, the people who run the Dollhouse hire out operatives for all kinds of lucrative missions, some of them sexual.

Yet we also have seen that, when they were hired, many of the "dolls" were running from lives filled with pain and regret. According to Dollhouse manager Adele DeWitt (Olivia Williams), each doll willingly signed an employment contract -- which guarantees a substantial payoff when the job ends.

Another intriguing new layer to the show is the idea that the Los Angeles Dollhouse is just one of many similar establishments, all of which are funneling funds to a mysterious corporation whom DeWitt says is doing something good with the money. Oh, sure. 

Having said all that, where can "Dollhouse" go from here? Whedon said in a 2008 interview that Echo can't ever become fully conscious of her past as Caroline.

"The really fun thing about the show is that she’s absolutely defined by other people, it’s her job to be defined by other people," Whedon said. "The idea that she might become defined by herself is potentially lethal to her."

Yet every recent step Echo has taken along the path of self-discovery -- and every time she has contacted former FBI agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) to enlist his help -- the show has made me more likely to tune in the next week.

Regardless, I now feel I've glimpsed "Dollhouse's" soul, which makes me anxious to know what Echo and her friends do next. And interested in whether they'll ever get souls of their own.

There are two more "Fringe" video clips below.

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