As usual, Nikki Finke has the hot little story from the front lines of the writers strike this morning. In a phrase: This thing is getting ugggly. And strrrrrange.
Apparently a psychopath - presumably a Fox executive, but no name released - tried to run down the top producer of "Law & Order" yesterday while he was walking the picket-line outside the Fox lot. The writer is Rene Balcer, "Law & Order" showrunner and pretty big star in that firmament; he is an "L&O" original and in charge of the show the one year it won a Best Drama Emmy. 
Per my recollection, Balcer (a Canadian) is a mild-mannered dude but feisty too: I remember meeting with him years ago, and he was on a tear, ready to take on the whole Dell Computer Corporation (and Michael Dell, to boot) because his laptop was on the fritz.
In any event: Balcer was not hurt, and after he dusted himself off managed to throw some punches at the be-suited creep. The guy then drove into the lot in his black SUV (image of Ari just flashed in my mind!) with license plate number taken and cops called.
All this is not funny. I repeat. This is NOT FUNNY (imagine - Fox big shots running down writers! What's this world coming to?) But I just can't help myself. Remember that classic scene in "The Sopranos" when Christopher went into the classroom while J.T.Dolan - Tim Daly - was teaching a class of aspiring writers? Chris beat up the poor guy, and Dolan later castigated the class: "A roomful of writers and not ONE of you came to my defense??!!" Point being, most writers - Hemingway and Norman Mailer excepted - are not handy with their fists.
A couple of questions: Who mowed down Rene? Couldn't be Bill O'Reilly - he's too busy wrestling the Obama Slamma. Couldn't be Rupert Murdoch - got his own driver (and wouldn't be caught dead in an SUV anyway; he's a Rolls kind of guy.)
And: Might Balcer write the whole affair into an episode of "Law & Order" when (or if) the strike ever ends? Let's help him: "In tonight's ripped-from-the-headlines 'L&O,' a writer is killed by an irate Fox employee, believed to be a famous talk show host at its news network..."
Why don't I get paid for this stuff?