In a joint statement, the Writers Guild of America, West, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said both sides had agreed to return to formal negotiations.

The statement said no other details would be released.

Meanwhile, the writers, who went on strike Nov. 5, would continue on the picket line, said Gregg Mitchell, a spokesman for the guild.

Some writers applauded the decision to return to talks.

"That's fabulous, that's great," said Sean Jablonski, a writer for the FX drama Nip/Tuck. "You can't get a deal until two sides sit down and talk about it."

"It's a good message to hear around the holidays," he said.

At the core of the contract dispute is compensation for shows offered on the Internet — a medium that appeals to a number of tech-savvy, young assistants who aspire to create their own online programming and want a piece of the profits.

The producers group has said it's offering writers a share of licensing fees paid by websites to stream shows.

However, the union rejected the offer, saying the payments wouldn't begin until six weeks after a show goes online and viewer interest is nearly exhausted.

Writers also want a cut of revenue from non-skippable ads contained in many shows streamed free online. The alliance slammed the door on that demand.

Since the strike began, late night talk shows and some sitcoms have gone to reruns. Officials at other shows are counting down the number of episodes they have left before running out of scripts.

沪江小编：编剧罢工已经持续了两个星期。在这两个星期，编剧们的罢工得到了一些演员的响应。制作人和电视台方面虽然说有办法可以应付局面，但是底气也越来越不足了。11月26日，双方终于将再次回到谈判桌，我们只能希望这次谈判能有进展，让我们喜欢的美剧早日回来。

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