Signs of a pitched battle

Actor Michael Imperioli, right, carries a sign of solidarity in New York.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Writer Michael Lent and his son Willem, 3 walk the picket line in front of Walt Disney studio in Burbank.  (Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images)

Evita Staun-List, 6 months, sits on a pile of discarded picket signs during a strike by members of the Writers Guild of America, outside of Fox Studios on Pico Blvd in Los Angeles. Her father, Steven List, has been a writer for 10 years.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Carolfrances Likins, a retired school teacher, gets motorists to honk in support of members of the Writers Guild of America, as they picket outside Fox Studios on Pico Blvd, in Los Angeles.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Supporters and members of the Writers Guild of America, lie down on Pico Blvd in Los Angeles, while picketing near Fox Studios.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Rage Against The Machine singer Tom Morello sings in support of the thousands of striking writers in Century City.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Steven Cragg, a writer for Mad TV, cheers at a rally along the Avenue Of The Stars in Century City in front of the Fox Studios Plaza.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Robert Grant and Tom Lennon from the TV show Reno 911 shake hands with a police officer. Nearly 4,000 WGA members and supporters picket and rally along the Avenue Of The Stars in Century City in front of the Fox Studios Plaza.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Emmy award winning writer Rodney Vaccaro leads his fellow striking writers in a chant along the Avenue Of The Stars in Century City in front of the Fox Studios Plaza.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Thousands of WGA members and supporters rally on Avenue of the Stars in Century City outside the 20th Century Fox studio.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Actress Valerie Harper demonstrates her solidarity in Century City.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Hollywood legends Garry Marshall, left, and Norman Lear hug at the Century City rally.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

New York City police monitor the Writers Guild of America East picket line on the fourth day of their strike in front of Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle.  (Carloyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Actor David Duchovny joins members of the Writers Guild of America East on the picket line in front of the Time Warner Center in New York City.  (Carloyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Striking writers used an inflatable pig as a prop in front of the Time Warner Center.  (Carloyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Actors Tim Robbins, left, and David Duchovny, back right, join the picket line in front of Time Warner Center in New York City.  (Carloyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Actor Julianne Moore, right, pickets with her husband, writer Bart Freundlich, in front of Time Warner Center.  (Carloyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Outside Paramount Studios in Hollywood, Writers Guild of America President Patric Verrone and the Rev. Jesse Jackson march with strikers.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A truck driver watches picketers after making his delivery at the Van Ness gate of the Paramount Studios lot.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Three of the creative forces behind the TV show “Moonlight” picket line at Warner Brothers. From left are Jill E. Blotevogel, Kira Snyder and Trevor Monson.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Strikers from the Writers Guild of America protest in front of Walt Disney Studios in Burbank.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Actress Sally Field speaks in support of striking members of the Writers Guild of America as they protest in front of Walt Disney Studios in Burbank.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

“Criminal Minds” executive producer Deborah Spera gets a kiss from series actor Shemar Moore in front Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. Both were at the site, along with about 200 others, in support of striking writers.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Comedian Jay Leno, right, stops to offer support to the strikers in front of the Disney studios in Burbank.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Writer Asher Levin makes his voice heard as he walks the picket line outside Warner Bros. in Burbank.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Seth Meyers, one of the head writers for “Saturday Night Live,” joins other protesting writers in front of Silvercup Studios in Long Island City.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Marian Brown, who was visiting her nephew at his Toluca Lake home, cheers on strike members as they protest near the filming of the TV series “Desperate Housewives.” A green screen was brought to the set to ensure that people in red shirts didn’t show up on camera.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The crew for “Desperate Housewives” holds off on filming amid a WGA protest at the location shoot in Toluca Lake.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus joins the picket line near the “Desperate Housewives” set in Toluca Lake, where the crew was shooting interiors and exteriors of a home.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

“Two and a Half Men” star Jon Cryer, holding a sign that declares the Screen Actors Guild’s support, joins WGA members on a picket line outside Warner Bros. in Burbank.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“Medium” star Patricia Arquette joined striking writers and other actors on a lunch break during filming of the show at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Actors from the TV show “ER” join the picket line outside Warner Bros. in Burbank. From left: Maura Tierney, Mekhi Phifer, Parminder Nagra and John Stamos, foreground.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Actor Hamish Linklater of “New Adventures of Old Christine” brings his 8-month-old daughter, Lucinda Rose, along to the picket line outside Warner Bros.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Actor Rod Garcia, 41, of Burbank, who appeared most recently in “Lucky You” and “Entourage,” joined hundreds of striking writers outside the Toluca Lake set of “Desperate Housewives.”  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Writer Angela Shelton, 34, calls for passing cars to honk their horns in support of a protest at the Paramount lot.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Barry Julien, a writer for “The Colbert Report,” volunteered to play the drums during the first day of the writers’ strike in New York City. “I’d rather not be on strike. But everyone here feels very united and that without a doubt, we didn’t have a choice.”  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Writers set up picket lines at the 20th Century Fox studios, with posters for upcoming movies as a backdrop.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Comedian Jay Leno shows up at the NBC studios in Burbank with a box of doughnuts for the strikers picketing at the entrance of the lot.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Members of the Writers Guild of America walk a picket line outside CBS studios in Los Angeles.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Tina Fey of “30 Rock” and Seth Meyers of “Saturday Night Live,” both members of the Writers Guild of America, picket NBC headquarters in New York.  (Gary He / Associated Press)