Oscar aligns stars

Oscar telecast producer Gil Cates' crisis planning is paying off for the Academy, producing a star-studded show.

At a Thursday morning news conference, Cates and Academy President Sid Ganis told a roomful of reporters that many of this year's star presenters -- who include George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Miley Cyrus and Katherine Heigl -- had informally agreed to appear at the ceremony as long as there was no picket line. So when the writers strike ended, much of the negotiation had already taken place.

"All the names were predicated on the stars not crossing the picket line," Cates said. "We did book the show with that understanding."

Now the pressure is on show writers -- Hal Kanter, Buz Kohan, Jon Macks and Bruce Vilanch -- who are working 13-hour days to script that witty banter between celebrities.

"No writing was done prior to yesterday," Cates said. "We are behind in the writing."

Host Jon Stewart, who arrives in Los Angeles on Saturday, also has his work cut out for him.

Cates told reporters that "The Daily Show" host was still assembling his team and that penning Stewart's pre-recorded bits in time would challenge the host's quick-witted crew, who already work on tight news deadlines.

This highly political year could very well produce some fiery acceptance speeches, but Cates sounded unmoved by the possibility of the Oscar podium becoming a soapbox for winners.

"That 45 seconds is yours to do with what you want," he said, adding that as long as it's tasteful and brief, it's no problem.

Ganis stressed that the production is "full steam ahead" and movie fans won't be disappointed.

"The bad news is past us now," he said.

The show includes more than 31 presenters -- "Superbad" stars Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill among them -- while performers include Amy Adams, who will sing the "Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted," and Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who will sing their nominated song "Falling Slowly" from the film "Once."

Cates has a few other surprise guests who he plans to announce in the coming days.

This so-called Plan A show is far more traditional than the strike-proof Plan B, which Cates joked would have been "the most exotic and interesting clip show in the history of television."

"There's a little part of me that would have liked to have done that show," Cates said.

Ganis couldn't have disagreed more.