The rat? No thanks. But the inflatable pig is a go

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While Sumner Redstone was addressing investors, several miles away, at Columbus Circle, about 100 Writers Guild of America picketers –- with some movie star support -– marched in a tight circle. They were cordoned off by metal barriers on the street outside the headquarters of Time Warner Inc., corporate parent of Warner Bros. and New Line studios, HBO and cable TV channels CNN, TBS and TNT.

Actors joining the line on a frosty, overcast morning included Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, David Duchovny and Julianne Moore. Instead of offering snacks to the marchers, Bruce Kapler, a saxophone player in the band on “Late Show With David Letterman,” handed out chemical hand warmers. “I think musicians have a dog in this fight,” said Kapler.

Robbins, a screenwriter as well as an actor, said of the strike’s effect so far: “The impact is that millions of Americans are not getting their ‘Daily Show’ and their ‘Tonight Show’ and their topical humor. People check in with the world that way. It’s a big absence.”

Is it enough to force entertainment companies to the bargaining table? “Well, we’re not moving,” Robbins said. “There have to be negotiations about new media. They’re making money off new media and they’re not sharing with anybody.”

Moore marched with her husband, writer-director Bart Freundlich. A giant inflatable pig in a vest and pinstriped shirt, contributed by the Laborers International Union, loomed nearby. Gerry Kraft of the Laborers said the union’s giant inflatable rat was available, “but I guess they wanted something different.”

The presence of the big gray rat had sparked complaints at other picketed sites. Non-WGA members who were compelled to work or risk losing their jobs objected to the implication.

-- Thomas S. Mulligan