I am – Hercules!!

Kindly meet the authors of “The Office,” all dressed in their pretty red shirts here.

Wednesday was the day all the TV showrunners were to converge on the Disney lot. From TVWeek:

The WGA has about 35 showrunners confirmed and are hoping for about 75 to make the protest. The rally stems from Saturday's showrunner meeting led by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd ("Back to You," "Frasier"), Matthew Weiner (“Mad Men”), Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin (“The Riches”), and Josh Friedman (“Sarah Connor Chronicles”) that helped convince writer-producers into largely adhering to picket lines during the first two days of the strike.

No word yet on how close they got to that 75. Read all of TVWeek’s story on the matter here.

We also got this Wednesday morning:

The dudes from Reno 911 are out picketing here at the lovely Sunset/Gower Studios... in full costume. Short-shorts and everything. Really nice guys. Call me weakmesh.

And this Wednesday afternoon:

I can report that the entire staffs (including showrunners) of "Gossip Girl," "Chuck," "Pushing Daisies," and "Cold Case" are out daily, picketing at Warner Bros.

And this Wednesday night:

The showrunners and writing staff of The Riches have been picketing at Culver Studios since the strike began, and were joined by Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver today.

And this Thursday morning:

Herc - I just left the scene of the WGA Picket Line in New York City. Today, the Writers have planted themselves in front of the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle. It's a huge turnout today...Robin Williams, Tim Robbins, Julliane Moore, Susan Surandon, Bobby Cannivelle, Fred Armesian, and Seth Myers were among the notable picketers, as was Steve Zalian, sporting an "American Gangsters = Studio Bosses" sign. CNN and Inside Edition were also on the scene...this thing keeps getting bigger. Thought you'd want to know ...

And this Thursday afternoon:

At a screening of the Simpsons movie at the DGA theatre with a Q&A following, Matt Groening, James L. Brooks & Al Jean all said that production has ground to a halt, b/c all the producers are writers, and there was no one that would approve the animation or designs being produced, nor can anyone direct the voice actors. They cannot do the last-minute revisions, writing, editing and ADR that they do on every ep, so – while next Sunday’s ep will likely be delivered and aired, after that, all bets are off.

It’s interesting, b/c Peter Chernin just last night was bragging to the Fox shareholders that they should weather the strike pretty advantageously, in part because their prime-time animated shows are “almost a year ahead of broadcast schedule”.

Between the Simpsons status and the remarks yesterday from McFarlane, we know this not to be the case. Is Chernin an idiot or just a liar – to his own shareholders? Time will tell.

And this Thursday night:

Nancy Miller, the creator and show runner of the TNT series "Saving Grace" starring Holly Hunter has been out on the picket line every day standing toe to toe with her entire staff. First at Fox and now at NBC. Her presence and support means the world to us.

Thanks to all our writer friends for their many heroic showrunner reports from the strike lines! Keep 'em coming!

For those asking for an AICN stand on the Writers Guild of America strike, I'm pleased to tell you I’ll be joining my writer friends on the picket line outside 20th Century Fox 10 a.m. this Friday, rocking my “Incredibles” t-shirt (which turns out to be the only red thing in my closet without a giant hole in it).

All who care to support the WGA in this important effort, I’m told, are encouraged to put on their own red shirts and show up in front of the Fox lot in Century City, Calif., 10 a.m. Friday. I’m also told this will be the only Friday strike location in Los Angeles, so it should be “quite a scene.”

One is hopeful the longtime AICN/Coaxial readers, at least, already knew where my loyalties on these matters lie. Every time I throw up one my “FAQ” reviews, I answer the question “Who’s responsible?” with the name of the writer or writers of the teleplay. The “auteur theory” (proclaiming the director the author of a filmed entertainment) offends me, and every time I see Brett Ratner describe himself as the “author” of a movie for which he didn’t write a word, I want to beat his hack bullshit-spewing mouth with my sneaker.

Be there. Aloha.

Alan Moore’s Gentlemen Return!!