Rushfield: The 6-Month Shutdown Scenario

What's really going on as the two sides stare each other down

(credit: Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Get comfortable everybody. 

As recently as... last week, the conventional wisdom on how long this strike goes on put an ending in July. That seemed a safe, conservative bet at the time.

A week or two later, a July ending seems wildly optimistic, if not entirely off the table.

Anything can happen. And in theory, anything can happen in any amount of time. Which isn't to say who will come out on top in all this, just that whatever the outcome, likely it's not coming soon.

But consider where this is headed. Chatting with people around town (the contents of the conversations I’ll share below) one gets a clear sense that the various tectonic plates of the various parties are shifting away from a settlement, rather than towards one.

But before I get to the WGA… there are a few other related plot lines to unpack: