Oscars show "will go on"

Long time Oscars producer Gil Cates has said that the 80th Annual Academy Awards ceremony in February will go ahead as planned despite ongoing difficulties related to the Writers Guild of America strike.

The awards telecast will look substantially different to those of previous years; the WGA will not allow the use of clips or highlights, and no waiver has yet been granted to permit writers to work on the event. Another potential problem is turnout, with actors and actresses reportedly not keen on effectively crossing picket lines to attend.

"The only thing I can tell you without any equivocation is the show is going to go on," Cates told The New York Post. "That's absolutely for certain."

At this stage, however, it is not even known whether appointed host Jon Stewart will appear at the event.