Actors not at a loss for words

Most of the cast of “Grey’s Anatomy” spent its lunch hour Wednesday picketing outside ABC Prospect Studios, where the popular drama is filmed.

Among the actors showing their support of their writers were Ellen Pompeo, Patrick Dempsey, T.R. Knight, Katherine Heigl, Sandra Oh, Justin Chambers, Sara Ramirez, James Pickens Jr., Eric Dane and Brooke Smith.

“We were all working because we have to, but we wanted to show our support,” Knight said. “It’s all very disturbing. There are a lot of families that are going to be affected by this.”

“Grey’s” is in the middle of producing its 11th episode this season and will shut down Tuesday or Wednesday when it’s done, Knight said.

He estimated at least 250 people work on the show, including the crew.

“This affects a lot of families because they’re not making the same salaries that the series regulars make,” he said. It’s a very different story, “but it’s clear that what is happening is not fair and it’s the only option. It’s a scary option. Hopefully it will be effective.”

-- Maria Elena Fernandez

-- The show goes on

Some protesters do not want their shows to shut down -- at least not yet.

“Our objective is not to shut down the show,” Bill Wrubel, a writer on “Ugly Betty,” said Wednesday outside Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach where the comedy, as well as other shows such as “Private Practice” and “The Closer,” films. “But we do intend to show our resolve. And our cast has been very, very supportive. We want to show loyalty to the crew. They come out and march with us when they get a break.”

Wrubel said writers had completed about 13 scripts when they walked off. “So they can definitely shoot 12, maybe 13. We worked hard to complete those scripts. We want to be loyal to the crew. But that will be it.”

The strikers’ spirits picked up when agents from CAA drove up in a BMW station wagon bearing oranges, water and snacks.

The scene at historic Paramount Studios was a little more crowded and lively. Instead of marching, some writers were dancing at the Bronson Avenue gate, bouncing to Cypress Hill’s “Insane in the Brain.” Motorists honked their approval.

-- Greg Braxton

-- Planned ahead

Jim Earl is very frustrated. He says the media keeps giving out the impression that TV writers get $200,000 a year. “I don’t make anywhere near that,” he says.

The 48-year-old Echo Park resident has been a writer on Fox’s “Talk Show With Spike Feresten” for the show’s second season. It’s been his steadiest gig since he left Manhattan for Los Angeles about three years ago. “I was a writer on ‘The Daily Show’ and I was making about $100,000,” he says. “I was making a good living, but I couldn’t afford to live in New York on that salary. So I came here.”

Before he landed the late-night show, he had a small radio show, did some stand-up and also did some freelance writing. He and his wife live in an apartment -- “I can’t yet afford to buy anything.”

Like many writers, he says he is somewhat financially prepared. “I’ve been saving money for a while and I will probably be OK until February. But I think it’s going to be hard. I can’t go back to stand-up, because that kind of work is pretty hard to get these days. The market’s not good. But if we don’t stick to our guns, it will be the end of our union.”

Not far away, chalk markings were still visible in front of a Sunset Gower Studios parking garage driveway where a picketer was struck and injured Monday by a driver entering the lot. There were some tensions between picketers and people trying to get to work, but some employees, such as personal assistants, took a different approach and brought the strikers cookies and water.

-- Greg Braxton

-- A good proposal

“Desperate Housewives” co-executive producer Alexandra Cunningham was working the picket lines outside Universal Studios Tuesday afternoon when she received a phone call. Her boyfriend of eight years, musician Stephen Thompson, was on the line wondering where she was and whether she expected “the same thing today as yesterday.” “It was questions he already knew the answers to,” said Cunningham, who said she started to get mildly annoyed. “I was like, ‘I’ll just see you at home!’ ”

Ten minutes later, at the corner of Lankershim Boulevard and Main Street, Thompson was down on one knee, proposing to Cunningham -- who was still holding a fluorescent orange picket sign that said, “HONK.” “I got a little misty,” Cunningham, 35, said. “I didn’t want to show any weakness because I’m the strike captain.” Cunningham said yes, and the Writers Guild members cheered and took pictures. “He took the opportunity to turn a sad day into a nice one,” she said. “I’ll never forget this.” And though the strike continues to go on, Cunningham said she’s looking forward to a happy wedding with some new friends. “There’s a lot of people that I’ve met since the strike started that will be invited,” she said. “I guess we’ll be telling our kids, ‘Mommy and Daddy got engaged on the picket line of ‘07!’ ”

-- Andrea Chang

-- Slogan writing

Striking writers ought to coin catchier slogans than teachers or janitors or air-traffic controllers, shouldn’t they? With that in mind, Writers Guild picketers at the Prospect Studios in Los Feliz on Tuesday were groping for that perfect phrase between slugs of coffee Tuesday morning. Results were mixed.

“Hey, ho, management can’t write the show,” they chanted at 10 a.m. along the studio’s Prospect Avenue entrance, where crew members for “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Shield,” “General Hospital” and other productions often pull in to park.

Soon they moved on to an original: “Webcast, DVD: You can’t have it, not for free.”

“That’s our gate’s very own creation,” noted WGA member and screenwriter Jennie Chamberlain, clarifying the credit line. “Prospect Studios, Gate 3.”

Chamberlain also professed a fondness for “Writers united, never divided.” But for sheer brevity and wordplay, another Gate 3 battle cry, just four syllables, had it beat:

“We write, you wrong.”

-- Christopher Reynolds

--

Not so merry

Adam Armus, 43, a writer and producer on “Heroes,” said he had to have a talk with his daughters, ages 4 and 7, telling them that Christmas was going to be different this year.

“Normally at this time of year we would be going shopping right now, but I’ve had to explain that . . . we’re going to have to make some sacrifices this year so that we can have a better Christmas next year. And they totally understand.”

-- Greg Braxton