The writers strike doesn't seem to be near an end, but the late night repeats just might be.
Variety is reporting that reps from each of the late night shows have been talking with each other behind the scenes to figure out when the best time to come back should be and how to go about it. Sources say that the shows probably won't return before Thanksgiving, but new episodes (without writers - they'd wing it) could be back on the air the week of December 3 or December 10.
This is a tricky situation. On the one hand, this strike is hurting a lot of people, and the late night hosts want to get the shows back on the air so their staff is paid. On the other hand, they don't want to appear as if they can "do without the writers." And can you imagine if they come back without writers and viewers love the shows? It's a weird situation.
In related news, Letterman's ratings are up, while Leno's go down.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-16-2007 @ 2:08PM
David said...
Letterman won't be coming back until the strike ends. Other shows -- esp. any owned by the networks -- might, but I give it a 0% chance that Letterman returns to air before the strike ends.
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11-16-2007 @ 2:35PM
Will Teullive said...
I think Letterman won't be back this year. If the strike lasts into the new year, you'll probably see him back before it's resolved. Normally Leno would be the first to run back, but he's pissed at NBC about the whole Conan transition and he seems to rely on the writers more than the other late night guys so he might wait it out, plus, he's got Vegas shows he can do during the strike.
Craig Ferguson will go lock step with Letterman, Conan may come back early if NBC pressures him enough, he doesn't want to f-up his Tonight Show gig before it starts, I think Jimmy Kimmel will wait until January, then he'll be back.
Will Teullive
http://1527rowland.blogspot.com/
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11-16-2007 @ 3:38PM
ac said...
For the related article is that the ratings for the reruns? Because after watching reruns of both I think its because Leno is showing episodes from like 5 years ago. The Letterman rerun I watched was from right before they went to strike (there was a joke about it every 5 seconds) and was recent enough for me to not mind it being a rerun. As soon as I saw Leno was 5 years old I switched it off. That may be the reason for the ratings.
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11-16-2007 @ 2:50PM
Midnight13 said...
Aren't Letterman and Leno former stand-up comics? Those monolouges are only about ten minutes long anyways, and yes they do bits now and then, but once the monolouge is over most of the show is just guest interviews and band/or comic performances. So while I understand not doing the show to support the strike. Techinically, they don't NEED the writers to still put on the show.
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11-16-2007 @ 3:44PM
Oreo said...
What happens when people like the new "winging it" shows better than the ones that had "writers"?
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11-16-2007 @ 3:26PM
Bob Jones said...
What will be interesting is the ratings when shows come back ... clearly Letterman is getting some of Leno's audience because they haven't seen his reruns before so they are in essense new episodes to them, maybe they'll stick with Letterman afterwards if they like what they see.
The strike gives people a chance to explore shows they usually miss do to other shows.
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11-16-2007 @ 4:10PM
Karen said...
I don't get the last line. "And can you imagine if they come back without writers and viewers love the shows?"
Well...if that was the case, then that is what the viewers should get. Is this a case of giving the writers jobs even if it isn't in the best interest of the show or about putting on a good show?
I'm not saying that the writers aren't needed, just that the writer of this blog seems to think it would be a bad thing if the viewers LIKED the show without writers. Hmm...
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11-16-2007 @ 4:32PM
Walt said...
Didn't Letterman have shows during the last writers strike? If he's not coming back now, why the change?
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11-16-2007 @ 5:00PM
Eric said...
During the last stike, Dave was on NBC. He's now on CBS. I'm sure that makes a difference, somehow.
I can imagine Dave and Craig Ferguson will be on the same schedule (since Dave's Worldwide Pants is the producer of both).
What I realised this afternoon, though, was that there won't be any pie-guessing contest with Dave's mom this Thanksgiving.
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11-17-2007 @ 3:12AM
Brent McKee said...
I'm trying to remember what Carson did during the 1988 strike. I recall that in one strike he stayed out for a long time but came back before it was resolved but I can't remember if it was the Writers' Guild strike or the SAG strike.
I have a lot of problems with the idea that these guys can do these shows long term without writing staffs. If it's simply a case of interviewing guests they might be able to pull it off; Dave in particular has turned into a pretty good interviewer. On the other hand if anyone thinks you can pull off even a five minute monologue of topical material - and funny topical material - five days a week without a writing staff, well give it a try some time. Do it in front of a live audience and see how far you get.
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11-19-2007 @ 12:35PM
kevjohn said...
Aren't Leno and Letterman on their own shows' writing staffs? Shouldn't they be in the WGA if that's the case? That should be the out they'd need to get out of this situation.
Although I like the idea of them going ahead without writers. I completely agree with Karen (#7). If nothing else it would give these two a chance to earn those tens of millions they're making every year. My guess is they'll just shorten the monologue by half or more, then add in additional performances by the musical guests.
Last one: Eric, how many writers did it take to come up with a segment where Dave guesses what kind of pie his mom baked? haha
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