Wisteria Lane converted to writers' block

By Leslie Simmons and Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - A standoff on Wisteria Lane, a day off at Dunder Mifflin, two-week notices at the late-night shows and a winter edition of "Big Brother" are among the top TV-related headlines from Day 2 of the Writers Guild of America strike Tuesday.

Picketing writers targeted a neighborhood in the suburb of Toluca Lake, disrupting a location shoot for ABC's "Desperate Housewives" that featured star Eva Longoria Parker. More than 30 picketers, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, managed to stop production outside the home.

Filming inside continued as scheduled. Portions of the dialogue affected by the noise outside are expected to be fixed in postproduction. Many on the production side raised their hands in support and at times appeared to encourage the striking writers and their supporters to yell louder. The picketers were creative in their chants, yelling, "Marcia's cross, and so are we!" "Unfair. Unjust. Marc Cherry is with us!" and the crowd favorite, "We write the story-a for Eva Longoria!" ("Desperate" creator/executive producer Marc Cherry, a member of the WGA negotiating committee, walked the picket line Monday.)

During her break around 1 p.m., Longoria Parker went outside, walked through the crowd and climbed onto a pizza delivery truck to hand out pizzas to the strikers.

"We are done, and we'll be on the lines supporting you," she told them. ("Desperate" will wrap production Wednesday on the episode, the last with a finished script to be shot before the end of the strike.)

"I care about people losing their homes, I care about my hair and makeup artists who can't make ends meet," Longoria Parker said. "It's in the best interest of the entertainment community to begin a meaningful dialogue as soon as possible."

"Desperate Housewives" is the second series to have a location shoot disrupted. CBS' "Cane" had to move locations Monday.

While the neighborhood was clogged with news vans, police officers, picketers and production trucks and crews, neighbors didn't seem to mind. "They film at that house all the time, and it's kind of a nuisance to the neighborhood," resident Susan Rubin said as she waved at her neighbor walking the picket line. "It's nice for it to be interrupted."