Forget about the Champagne, just make like the New England Patriots

As scribe A.L. Katz coordinates the fourth week of WGA picketing outside Paramount's Windsor gate, he can't resist a sports analogy.

"It's been a little bit of a lift to see that we've finally gotten to good faith negotiations with the companies," said Katz ("Tales From the Crypt," "The Outer Limits"). "On the other hand, it's not the time to let our guard down. It's like in a basketball game in the fourth quarter when a team lets up because it's 15 points ahead. We need to pretend like we're 15 points down." [Yes, I know the Patriots are a football team. Yell at me, not McNary. -- Ed.]

For Katz, picketing has reinforced a sense of collective experience among WGA members. He said the key moment in the strike came four days before it started, when about 3,000 WGA members met at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

"A lot of writers are pretty solitary people," he said. "I think a lot of us suddenly felt that going on strike was something that we had to do. And with the ongoing attack on collective bargaining, we need to stand up. If we don't, it's going to have a profound influence far beyond the 12,000 members of the guild."   

-- Dave McNary

(Image of the "Reno 911" striker courtesy of WGA member Anka Radakovich, who has an eye for such things.