War drums.

The Writers Guild of America has told the studios what they can do with their olive branch.

The guild's leaders have spurned an industry proposal to launch negotiations in January. Instead, they've insisted they won't be ready to start until September, less than two months before the Oct. 31 expiration of the current contract.

"I'm very disappointed," said Nick Counter, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.

On the film side, the delay means an acceleration of production and stockpiling of scripts, followed by a "de facto strike" next summer as studios stop launching film production once they can no longer be wrapped by Oct. 31. In TV, the prospect of a work stoppage means studios and networks will try to shoot more episodes of scripted series and will be less inclined to launch series while planning for more reality, news and sports programming.

WGA West exec director David Young said: "We are currently meeting with our members on contract issues, as well as continuing our dialogue with sister guilds in Hollywood. We fully expect that a fair agreement will be reached in our upcoming negotiation."

Some execs attribute the WGA's move to gamesmanship, designed to show studios and networks that the scribes are serious about getting a bigger slice of the pie. Other speculation for the delay centered on the WGA betting that the extra time will clarify the outlook on which digital delivery platform will become dominant.

Others, like "Law & Order" producer Dick Wolf, see a strike.

"It's a Neolithic tactic," he told Dally Variety, "but it's a clear message that they want to have a work stoppage. I don't have to be the Delphic oracle to have seen this coming."

Both sides appear to have forgotten the economic damage inflicted during the 1988 writers strike, which lasted five months. Network viewership has declined every year since then.

Staff reporter Anne Riley-Katz can be reached at [e-mail] or at [phone], ext. 225.