Other stars just shoot commercials in Japan

So Republican ex-Senator Fred Thompson is finally, mercifully taking his hat out of the presidential race. The pundits will no doubt be asking variations on "what took him so long?" given his consistently lousy showing in the primaries and caucuses to date. (It was only in Wyoming that he came in maid of honor to Mitt Romney.)

But Hollywood observers may note that Thompson's campaign kicked off officially only in September, just weeks before the Writers Guild of America went on strike, effectively freezing TV and film production. Thompson, best known as District Attorney Arthur Branch on "Law & Order," may have the most interesting what-I-did-during-the-strike story when the business of making show business finally resumes.