LOS ANGELES: 7/10

As the LA Angels head into the stretch drive for a possible pennant, there may be more than a few EPs with time enough to jump on the bandwagon if the last three or four weeks is any indication. "We had some momentum earlier in the summer," says one EP. "But the last month has been quiet. It's a good time to take a holiday."

It might be a case, though, of having gotten used to living in a monsoon and then being able to actually take the garbage out without being blown into the ocean. "The last two weeks have been slow," frowns one EP, before adding that "We've got two shoots instead of five.

The usual suspects are still billing their bread and butter, but the more interesting work is harder to come by. "It's been slim pickings out there, but there are rich bits," says an EP who's more than happy to wait for the right script. "You just have to find them."

As far as what's ahead, there's an alarming trend that's recurring more and more frequently. "We have no idea what our September will look like because it seems like projects are getting green lit later and later," offers one EP. "And they want jobs turned around faster and faster. Even multi-million budgets."

TORONTO: 8/10

When it rains it pours, and whether in the flurry of late August thunderstorms or the barrage of incoming scripts, it was all the same to Toronto's EPs last month. Indeed, August marked a substantial upsurge from June and July's tepid workflow; with adjectives ranging from "robust" to "insane", everyone we spoke to agreed that the summer was ending on a strong note. "I've had 20 or so scripts put on my desk in the last three or four days," exclaimed one sales head, while another put it thusly: "If you eat it, drive it, or wear it, we're shooting it."

While the trainspotter's initial impulse might be to connect a strong board flow with hockey's imminent return, the majority of EPs we spoke to didn't see it that way. With clients ranging from packaged goods and clothes to banks and department stores, most preferred to chalk it up to the natural ebb and flow of things.

Creatively, August's work left a little to be desired (one rep noted that her boards too frequently suffered from being "researched to death") with all the strong work falling into the comedy category. Shockingly, budgets remain as challenging as ever ("we're never going to see the '80s again," said the same rep), but with work this plentiful, nobody can find it in their hearts to complain.

And so what if the weather's bad? At least this way everyone feels a bit better about working all those late nights. After all, as another EP declares, "we deserve a busy month after this summer!"

NEW YORK: 7/10

Not unlike George Steinbrenner's merry band of underachievers, New York's production industry greeted September in neutral. While everyone's not-so-secretly waiting for a gangbusters month to put them back in the black, nobody can put any kind of meaningful winning streak together. The end result? A lot of cautious optimism and treading water punctuated by the odd tantalizing weeklong spike.