Picketing with the stars: Brad Garrett knows a thing or two about contract negotations

“’Til Death” star Brad Garrett noted that the studios are well aware how important scribes are: “Some of the biggest deals in our business are with writer/producers,” he noted.

Garrett said he believed contract talks had degraded into “a pissing match. And that’s not going to help anyone.”

“Just get back to the table,” Garrett added. “It’s not a game of chicken.”

But that said, Garrett has thrown his lot in with the writers, noting that “we’re nowhere without them.”

“People deserve a piece of the pie,” he said. “We’re talking percentages. If they don’t make anything, we don’t make anything.”

Garrett knows a thing or two about highly-charged negotiations, having been at the center of a rough reup on “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

“I had a well-publicized negotiation four years ago,” he said. “All I wanted was my share. That’s all the writers want.”

Garrett said four episodes of “’Til Death” remained in the can, but that he was less concerned over the strike’s impact on his show, and more on others impacted by the work stoppage.

“The cameramen, the Teamster people, they’d like to get through the holiday,” he said.

Then, going into self-deprecating mode, he added: “If you want to know what happens without writers, come to my show at the Mirage next month.”

-- Michael Schneider