Kudos to SAG President Alan Rosenberg and its new Executive Director Doug Allen for their attempts to inspirit the spread out sometimes fractured Membership with a bold plan to stand up to the studios and networks.

The entire industry owes its thanks to these men for standing tall with the...

During the Writers Strike, I was a Picket Team Captain at CBS Television City in Hollywood located at Beverly Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. Depending upon parking regulations and street sweeping days, it was necessary to park at meters during a portion of our picketing activity. So, on certain days I...

Whether Obama or McCain is better fit to deal with defense and overseas issues, I'm constantly amazed how those who can't really defend our failed foreign policies choose to hit below the belt using the "P" word, hoping such an asinine emotional response will promote the Republican candidate. You may...

Have you ever traveled and been less than satisfied? It's very debilitating considering the effort it took to get there -- the flight and numerous hours of planning. Even more so when you return to a place you've enjoyed many times in the past only to find the latest experience...

I do a fair amount of traveling and have increasingly been piqued at the nickel and diming of services to which airline passengers have long been accustomed.

I'll be the first to admit that in most aspects of our society such as housing (mortgage or rent), groceries, theatre and movie...

Turning on the TV tonight to watch the first returns from South Dakota and Montana, I was immediately struck and somewhat shocked that a number of superdelegates couldn't wait for the news that might have given them pause to consider what they'd done.

By bagging twenty-six or so of their...

I'm writing from Deadwood, South Dakota, where I've just spent a mostly eventful two weeks discovering the beauties of America at Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park and points in between in Montana and Wyoming.

I'll be writing about that later, but the point of this piece is to note the...

With apologies to my friend playwright Robert Anderson, whose title inspired me for this piece, Sunday morning I got a call from my closest relative, cousin Arlene -- really my surrogate mother, who gave me the following news:

She'd heard from her son, who'd heard from his uncle that apparently...

There was an article in the LA Times today about how the economy has affected tipping. Some people are tipping less and some people are ordering cheaper dishes, which in turn affects the tip the waiter receives.

While I'm well aware that many people in service industries work for low...

There's been lots of discussion about movie attendance going down, what with wide screen TVs and shorter embargo periods to rent or download films. While it's not yet as dramatic as some have predicted, I can foresee that day coming if an exceedingly annoying aspect of film going doesn't disappear.

I was at a Hallmark Hall of Fame reception the other night, where they presented Sweet Nothing in My Ear starring Jeff Daniels and Marlee Matlin. The story concerned the trials of a "mixed" marriage -- Daniels could hear and Matlin could not -- in which the main conflict was...

Regarding the recent brouhaha about whether Barack Obama insulted small town religious beliefs at a recent San Francisco fund-raiser, and the joint pouncing upon that fact by the Clinton and McCain forces (not to mention Obama's defensive remarks), I can only suggest it's time to say "Enough with the competition...

With the recent deaths of Charlton Heston and Anthony Minghella, and the resulting post-obit tributes that came their way, it bothered me that this was not the case when one of our greatest motion picture actresses passed away a little less than six months ago. In light of this, I...

There are many reasons people don't get ahead or why a career stalls. Excuses abound as to the rationale, usually headed up by the well-known "isms." We've got sexism and of course racism, plus the universally maligned ageism, because it's the one "ism" to which every single one of us...

With all the drama of the upcoming SAG Negotiations, not to mention the internecine conflict between SAG's Leadership and that of AFTRA, its sister union, those of us who fought and participated in the relatively successful Writers Guild Strike for over three months can't help reminding our actor friends:

It's...

What's the real problem about redoing Michigan and Florida? News reports have indicated that Obama's camp doesn't want a revote. Others said the various legislatures and political forces in the respective states don't want to have them either. Too much money? Or too unwieldy?

Or does a revote just make...

With all that's going on in the Democratic race, I'm sure the Republican Dirty Tricks Forces are rubbing their hands in glee. So, my question, as I expound a bit on this and that regarding the presidential contest, is to repeat the oft-posted Rodney King admonition, "Why can't we all...

Last Tuesday, Hillary Clinton reversed her political slide, which had been greased by so many in the Media who gave disproportionate import to the primaries and caucuses Barack Obama won in the days following Super Tuesday. Last Wednesday's headlines gave some begrudging indication -- almost a harumph -- that she'd...

I'm not a Hillary Clinton superfan, although I voted for her against Obama in California because my preferred candidates John Edwards and Joseph Biden had already dropped out.

I previously wrote a piece suggesting that Al Gore enter the race, as someone who has already been chosen by the American...

A shocking thing happened to me and it may well have happened to you. I was shopping at Ralphs a few weeks ago, and when I opened my wallet to swipe my credit card, I noticed that my VISA and Master Cards were missing. I was horrified and tried to...