Due to the continuing WGA strike, the Golden Globes look like they might - might - get the ax. (For all of you book-reading intelligentsia who claim to have TV sets only so that your can watch your Netflix DVDs of The Sopranos and The Wire, you can read more about the strike here.)

While not necessarily Bay Area-related, this deeply affects all of us who look at awards season at something holy and critical - an all-star Ramadan with awards, if you will. While the cancellation is still in the rumor stages, it appears that in lieu of the normal four-plus hour Golden Globe Awards marathon, we could see a scaled back version of the awards, which would consist of "the Hollywood Foreign Press Association handing out Golden Globes to the winners, who will then pick up the awards and pass through a press room for photos and interviews."

That sounds like a phenomenal idea. Why did it take a strike of Hollywood writers to come up with an awards show as brilliant and concise as this? That said, we can't imagine that the Oscar's bastard child of an award show will, in fact, be canceled for something so streamlined and pleasant for the viewer. Hmm. Let's wait and see.

According to Deadline Hollywood - "the unofficial NBC schedule for the Golden Globes on January 13th" DH tells us - here's how the truncated awards show might go down:

There will be a press conference this afternoon announcing that the Globes Awards ceremony will not go on. Here is the plan:

-- At 9 PM there will be a press conference covered by NBC News announcing the Golden Globe winners. (9pm-10pm)

-- At 8 PM, we are negotiating with Dick Clark Enterprises for a one-hour retrospective/clip show.

-- At 7 PM, we will air a Dateline with clips and interviews with nominees. (Currently scheduled to air for two hours on Saturday night.)

-- At 10 PM, we will broadcast an "Access Hollywood" style, Golden Globes party show...visiting the various parties in Hollywood

Since we approve of anything Dateline-related, kudos.