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The Oscars at 8018/02/2008
After weeks of turmoil over the writers' strike, Hollywood's biggest awards night has had its very own "happy-ever-after" and the show will most definitely go on.
The famously glamorous ceremony might have been reduced to no more than a bland press conference, had the Writers' Guild decided to picket, with no stars, no red carpet and no atmosphere.
But, as the Academy President Sid Ganis confirmed, the annual event is "full steam ahead" and writers will be working around the clock until the big night to produce what is being called the "show A".
And it won't just be any old Academy Awards - this year the Oscars celebrates its 80th anniversary.
Here we look at the awards past and present.
:: The guest list
Now the strike is off, the stars are all frantically picking out their gowns and tuxedos and speed-dialling their stylists.
The confirmed guest list so far for the Kodak Theatre bash on February 24 reads like an A to Z of who's who on Hollywood with everyone from Jessica Alba, Cate Blanchett, George Clooney and Penelope Cruz to Cameron Diaz, Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Martin Scorsese, John Travolta, Denzel Washington and Renee Zellweger.
Presenters on the night include last year's Oscars queen Helen Mirren, as well as Forest Whitaker, Alan Arkin and Jennifer Hudson.
And comedian Jon Stewart will have the honour of hosting the special show for a second time - without having to rely on his own material!
Producer Gil Cates says: "Jon was a terrific host for the 78th Awards. He is smart, quick, funny, loves movies and is a great guy. What else could one ask for?"
:: The history
More than 3,000 celebrities and movie moguls are expected to attend this year's ceremony - somewhat more than the 250 people who paid just 10 dollars for the privilege of attending the very first Academy Awards in May 1929.
Back then the names of the winners were given out in advance to newspapers for publication at 11pm, unlike today when the results are a closely guarded secret with only two accountants knowing them before they are read out.
The early system changed in 1940, when it was discovered that guests arriving for the show could buy the 8.45pm edition of the Los Angeles Times, announcing the winners.
Oscar is thought to be named after the uncle of Academy executive director Margaret Herrick, who she thought the statue resembled.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences resisted the nickname for a few years, finally embracing it in 1939 and registering it as a trademark in 1978.
:: Speeches and scandal
The Oscars are renowned for reducing even the most hardened actress to a blubbering wreck.
Gwyneth Paltrow immediately springs to mind for her distraught acceptance of the best actress Oscar in 1999 for her role in Shakespeare In Love.
But most outbursts at the Oscars are usually political and have seen celebrities banned from ever setting foot on the famous red carpets again.
At the 45th Awards, held in 1973, Marlon Brandon sent Native American, Sacheen Little Feather, to refuse his Best Actor Award for The Godfather on his behalf.
She was booed and jeered off the stage, but it later turned out she was in fact a little-known Mexican actress called Maria Cruz. Marlon was never invited to the Oscars again.
Susan Sarandon and actor partner Tim Robbins also found themselves black-listed following the 1993 ceremony, when they used the awards to protest against HIV-positive Haitians being refused entry to the US.
In 1958, Lana Turner chose to invite her daughter Cheryl to the Oscars over gangster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato - in an ensuing argument, he "accidentally" fell on a knife blade and died.
Unsurprisingly, Lana's bid to become a serious actress never recovered.
© 2008 The Press Association Limited
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 25: Actress Amber Tamblyn arrives at the 2007 Vanity Fair Oscar... 
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