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GUESTS: Brian Davidson, Janie Diane Raphael, Doug Petrie, Writers on the Picket Line

Television celebrities will join the picket line today in solidarity with the Writers Guild of America strike. George Lopez, Minnie Driver, and others are slated to attend the “Picketing with the Stars,” action at noon outside of Universal Studios. As the strike enters its ninth day, the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have yet to return to the negotiating table. Talks broke down between the two over a new contract as the old one expired on October 31st. The strike’s main demands center around residual payments from DVD sales and digital distribution. The 12,000 member strong WGA union originally sought to double residual payments from DVD sales for their members but are amenable to lowering their demands. However, no agreement has been reached on digital distribution. Though Hollywood studios claim that such distribution is still in its early phases and its successes too early to judge, a popular television show such as “The Office” has attracted seven million i-tunes downloads. As the labor dispute continues, writers are not the only personnel affected. The strike has put many television crew members out of work.

For more information, visit www.wga.org/