State of the Blog Address
I know this is the second letter from the editor that I'm dedicating to covering the Writers Guild strike, but living here in Los Angeles, it's literally right down the street from where I live and pretty much unavoidable--and will get even more unavoidable as more and more shows shut down their production from lack of scripts. Of course, what would strike coverage be without some celebrity interaction? Well, on this site, not very interesting--because that's what we do! We do celebrities! And yesterday, I headed out to Universal Studios with my good friend, Wayne Ford, and interviewed those stars who were out that day to show their solidarity with the striking writers and I have to say, I couldn't turn around without bumping into a face I recognized. It was kind of scary, to be quite honest.
More pictures and stories from celebs on the picket lines after the jump...
Julia-Louis Dreyfus was out, and has been a big supporter of the cause, since the strike first began, wearing a red t-shirt that read, "Speechless." She agreed to chat with us for a moment, explaining her position on the situation and I refrained from pushing her on the shoulder after the end of the interview, yelling, "Get OUT!" Because I have a feeling my weak Elaine Benes impersonation would not have been appreciated.
So, as you can see, we bumped into Jon Cryer from "2 and a Half Men," who was very friendly and also obligingly gave us an interview, as well as Jay Leno who was way more intimidating on his motorcycle, and seemed pretty much over talking about it, but luckily for us, he didn't mind giving us a few minutes of his time. Since I'm so used to seeing him so jokey and smiley on the show, it was kind of scary to see him so serious. I don't know how I feel about serious Jay Leno.
We bumped what almost looked like the entire cast of "Scrubs," Donald Faison, Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Neil Flynn, Ken Jenkins, John C. McGinley, Judy Reyes and Christa Miller, who chatted with us briefly for a short interview. Shortly thereafter, I turned around and was myself rendered speechless when I spotted Lily Tomlin. It was all I could do to snap a quick photo, much less gather up the courage to jam a microphone in this comedy legend's face. Then, I stumbled upon Sarah Silverman, her sister Laura and in between, a very cheerful and friendly Kathy Griffin. In my first interview with the Silverman sisters and Kathy, I got a chance to awkwardly chat with the ladies whose comedy chops I so admire, about a passion for something that we both share--writing. And since my goal is to eventually end up writing for television in comedy, it was nice to talk with the ladies who are paving the way for future writers to secure a viable livelihood.
Your truly,
Lisa T.
Editor
A Socialite's Life
Max says:
I hope the studio's really come out of this looking incredibly foolish. Very quickly. And head directly to the bargaining table. And give the writers what they deserve. I feel the need for an Arrested Development quote here, and of course all I can think of is, "C'mon Michael!"
Bird says:
That must have been pretty damn cool...it's times like these when I wished I lived in LA. Oh, and the fact that it is about 30 degrees over here in the good ol' I-L.
And, if Lisa writes any of my future comedies, I'd be a happy camper.
Janice says:
I am trying to find the exact location of a closed landfill on the Universal Studios backlot. I have several government reports that list the Universal Studios landfill but I have not seen a map pinpointing the exact location. An article in the May 2, 2005 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported, "Wisteria Lane sits atop a landfill in the shadow of the 'Psycho' house."
I would appreciate any help in verifying that this article is correct.
Janice R. England,
People Investigating Toxic Sites