The governing boards approved a tentative agreement of its negotiators with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) on Sunday. Guild leaders voted unanimously to ask members to decide on ratifying the contract and ending the walkout, and now it's up to members to approve the deal and effectively end the strike. Until that happens, the strike remains in effect.

"This is the best deal this guild has bargained for in 30 years, after the most successful strike this guild has waged in 35 years," WGA West president Patric Verrone said. He also thanked television viewers who "tolerated three months of reruns and reality TV." You're welcome.

Since the strike began, the WGA stated several times that they would only sign an agreement that gives TV and film writers a percentage of the residuals from DVD sales and Internet downloads of programs, a market that has been raking in billions of dollars and that producers, studio heads and actors already receive.

The governing boards' endorsement paves the way for writers to return to work on Wednesday, pending a vote by the guild's membership to lift the strike order on Tuesday, but most writers have already returned to work as producers. Member approval of the contract and an end to the strike is more than likely.

The union's members will be able to cast ballots in person or by a proxy at membership meetings scheduled for Tuesday at the Writers Guild Theater in Los Angeles (for the WGA - West Coast) and the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Manhattan (for the WGA - East Coast).

A draft of the three-year deal was reached a few days back, but it took a few more days for lawyers from both sides to pen the actual contract, which was done Friday. Around 300 strike captains have taken a look at the draft the same day, with most of them considering the deal fair with just a few hardliners arguing that more could be achieved.

Rumors of the deal have been swirling since last weekend, while Oscar organizers said they were running out of time in the search for a deal to avoid the ceremony from being affected by the strike. The WGA strike began at one minute after midnight on Nov. 5, marking the first strike in 20 years, after representatives for the 12,000 members of the WGA failed to reach an agreement with TV and film producers on a new contract.