The Underwire passes along the rumor that Lionsgate might be the next company to negotiate a Worldwide Pants-esque deal with the WGA. This of great interest, because in addition to distributing films like 3:10 to Yuma and the Saw franchise and the films of Tyler Perry, the small studio recently began producing original television series, which they essentially rent to networks for broadcast, including the much-beloved Mad Men (above). If this deal were to go through anytime soon, it might mean we could see new episodes in ‘08. Oh, and there’s the little matter of the next slice of fanboy bait from Frank Miller, which, like everything else, is on hold until the strike ends.

I haven’t seen anything about the rumor elsewhere, but if there’s anything to it, I’m sure Nikki will be on it by the end of the day.