Ellen DeGeneres has begun to soften on the admirably hard-line stance she took on behalf of Hollywood's striking writers: On today's show (taped earlier in the week) she still refused to do a monologue, but has migrated back to the mark where she typically begins each broadcast. Still, she continues to cross the line, raising the question of whether or not she'll do the same when the Talk Show DJ's Guild talks come up later this year, and she's forced to weather the spittle-flecked invective of its single member, Stryker, fighting for his fair percentage of audience-boogying residuals.

• Ellen DeGeneres Show

Contact information for this author is not available.