Maybe he left messages for the WGA too

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When you’re a critic, you get used to being told you’re a moron. (Also that you’re brilliant, but what good Irish Catholic ever listens to praise? Not this one.) So I wasn’t surprised that a man identifying himself as a member of the WGA took up two message units on my voice mail to take me to task for my ‘puff piece’ review of Jay Leno last night. The caller bashed The Times’ coverage of the strike in general, and my piece in particular because I did not call Leno a ‘scab.’ Now, this is one caller I wish had not chosen to remain anonymous, because I would have loved to have called him and raised the same issue.

Watching Jay Leno last night, I wondered why he, as a member of the WGA, was allowed to write his own monologue -- which was available on the web by 6:30 yesterday evening -- in which he announced his support for the writers, despite the fact that he had crossed a picket line to restart a struck show at a struck network (something I actually said in the piece, but I’m not sure this reader got too far beyond the headline). I didn’t call him a ‘scab’ quite simply because the WGA had offered, and continues to offer, its support of Leno. In fact, spokespeople for the guild, including president Patric Verrone, have gone out of their way to explain that those writers still picketing NBC are not picketing Leno, they’re picketing the network.

So are you a ‘scab’ if the striking union doesn’t condemn your breaking of the strike? (The WGA issued a statement today saying that “a discussion’ took place today between Jay Leno and the writers guild to clarify to him that writing for ‘The Tonight Show’ constituted a violation of the guild’s strike rules -- but that hardly counts as condemnation.)

Last night, Leno explained that he came back on the air because he didn’t want 160 crew members losing their jobs for the needs of 19 writers. Unfortunately, this is the essential nature of a writers strike which Leno says he supports. This morning, Verrone told AirTalk’s Larry Mantle that the WGA would be ‘talking to’ Leno about the writing of his monologue, but when asked what he, Verrone, would have done in Leno’s shoes, the WGA president mainly expressed relief for not being in Leno’s position; he certainly did not condemn Leno’s decision. Subsequent callers, however, said that what Leno did was the very definition of ‘scab labor.’

So, anonymous guy who tried to be polite while telling me what a crappy job I’m doing, I’m sorry you feel that way, but you might want to check in with your union too.

-- Mary McNamara, Times television critic