Rumors of a premature ending to the STRIKE are...

Negotiations continue in the now 24-day-old TV and movie writers strike. While there's no official word on whether progress is being made between the writers and producers, striking horror scribe DON MANCINI, the man who created the "Chucky" character, says he's been hearing reports that talks have been productive. Mancini was walking a picket line outside Warner Brothers Studios Tuesday.

Scrubs star ZACH BRAFF says he's also been hearing some good things, including the possibility that issues between writers and producers could be, quote, "resolved by the end of the week." Braff says Scrubs has now run out of scripts and is shut down until the strike is over. Given that this is the NBC medical comedy's final season, Braff is worried the last six episodes of the series won't be shot if the strike goes on much longer

Ellen and the Scabs...well

While ELLEN DEGENERES hasn't publicly shed any tears over the writers' strike, the union is trying its best to make her feel bad about continuing production of her talk show. The eastern branch of the Writers Guild of America has vowed to picket her show when it tapes in New York next Monday and Tuesday. Referring to DeGeneres' emotional conflict over the adoption of a dog last month, the WGA East said, quote, "We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a dog that she gave away, yet she couldn't even stand by writers for more than one day."

DeGeneres did not report to work on the first day of the strike, but later taped a show that aired Friday. She acknowledged the strike on the episode, saying she would not perform a monologue in support of her writers. The producer of The Ellen DeGeneres Show claims that DeGeneres is not breaking strike rules since she's performing her own material. The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or AFTRA, which represents TV personalities such as DeGeneres, also defended the comedian. She's a member of both AFTRA and the Writers Guild.

The major late-night talk shows have aired repeats since the strike began last week. An executive producer for The Tonight Show said in a statement Friday that it has considered using guest hosts in place of JAY LENO. When asked about that report yesterday, Leno replied, "I hope not."

Several primetime series have also felt the effects of the strike. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Scrubs creator BILL LAWRENCE says several episodes for the current season, which is the series' last, have yet to be written. He also says he earlier turned down a request to write a rushed finale to wrap the series in the event of a strike.