The wait is over for adoring television sitcom fans, as Hollywood writers voted to end their union’s strike last Tuesday. It has been a long and dreary wait for viewers after production halted three months ago in the Hollywood television and movie industry. In the height of the fall season line-up, many viewers were lefthanging in suspense as their favorite shows went off the air.

With so many questions arising, the Writer’s Guild of America posted their reasoning on wga.org to help clarify the situation. Convergence of different forms of media has caused many problems over the years, and now it is being faced in the television industry. “Industry experts agree that in the next 2-5 years most American televisions will be connected to the Internet and the shows and movies you watch will be transmitted via Internet connection.” With Internet streaming and downloading, writers were not receiving what they considered to be their fair share of the profits.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the WGA were having trouble coming to an agreement that would please both parties; therefore, the union decided to strike. “Writers are asking for Guild coverage of writing for the Internet, basic residuals for Internet content reuse, and the tools to enforce this agreement.” Since Nov. 5, writers have refused to continue working on current productions, putting everyone out of a job.

Not only did this put a strain on employees, but also viewers. Left hopelessly to watch reruns each week, many had to turn to older sitcoms, reality shows, or television broadcasted movies to fill the empty space.

The three-month gap caused an estimated $3.2 billion toll on the industry; not leaving much hope for new shows, such as Pushing Daisies, for resuming production this season. Favorite shows (CSI, Grey’s Anatomy, and House) halted production, but are expected to deliver a handful of new episodes this spring due to the strong following audience. Other shows such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, The Late Show with David Letterman, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno continued production without writers, giving viewers something to look forward to each evening.

For now audiences are in the clear, but the contract between studios and the Screen Actors Guild is set to expire in June which may cause similar problems. The move between the AMPTP and WGA allowed writers to return to the office last Wednesday. It also clears way for the Academy Awards on Feb. 24, which will make for a fabulous return to Hollywood. “At the end of the day, everybody won. It was a fair deal and one that companies can live with, and it recognizes the large contribution that writers have made to the industry,” said Leslie Moonves, chief executive officer of CBS Corp.