Grammys, Oscars in trouble

The Peoples' Choice and Golden Globes awards shows were downgraded to little more than press conferences when striking TV writers refused to work on them and put up picket lines to keep actors away. Now it looks like the Grammys (scheduled for Feb. 10) and the Oscars (Feb. 24) will be the next to go.

The Recording Academy, which stages the Grammys, on Tuesday asked the writers' union to permits its members to work on the show, and was promptly told a waiver was unlikely. Meanwhile, Gil Cates, who produces the Oscar ceremony for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, met with studio publicists and disclosed that he's drawing up two sets of plans -- one for a full ceremony in case the strike is settled, one for a stripped-down version if it isn't. The stripped-down version, publicists say, would rely heavily on pre-taped interviews, much as the Peoples' Choice awards did.