Boombotz and Julio could both be telling the truth. Boombotz thinks Julio is ill-natured, hypocritical and a douchebag based on their interactions. It's possible that Julio really is a big a jerk as Boombotz says, yet still has moments of decency. Maybe something about this situation really impacted Julio and caused him to act with compassion, even if that isn't always his first instinct. Maybe he then used this story to make himself look good. It's also possible that Julio is at heart a really good guy but Boombotz has just seen some of his worst behavior. No one's behavior is 100% consistent all the time.

DJPerl, the studios aren't going to hire non-guild writers. I live in LA and have several friends who work on TV shows (not as writers). The shows are gearing to shut down production as soon as the strike happens. Everyone will be out of work, from the actors to the grips to the set designers. I have a couple of friends with movie scripts in re-write mode right now. If they're not sold before the strike, they have to wait until the strike is over to get paid.

Most people had predicted the strike would happen after the first of the year, so many people in the industry had been planning financially for that. Unfortunately the writers have moved up the strike by at least a couple of months, leaving their colleagues high and dry and many in very precarious financial straits.

If the strike happens, I have a friend who plans to move in with his parents (along with his wife and child). I have another friend who will probably be moving in with me (into a 1-bedroom apartment).

I see some of the writers' points, but they also are impacting many people's lives with their demands.

In addition, here's a quote from an LA Times article about Marc Cherry (creator of Desperate Housewives):

"What sustained him in the fallow years, before his desperation inspired ABC's 2004 hit "Desperate Housewives," were the little green envelopes that showed up in his mailbox. Reruns of "The Golden Girls," which got a second life on the Lifetime cable channel, brought residual checks that one year totaled $75,000.....Without residuals, Cherry said, he might have been forced to "get a real job.""

Cry me a river, Marc Cherry. We should all be so lucky to get $75,000 a year from our old jobs and not be forced to "get a real job."

I don't know who does PR for the Writers' Guild, but I don't think talking heads like Marc Cherry are going to be garnering any sympathy.