TVSquad

And then there were none.

David Letterman has struck a deal with the Writers Guild of America, and both his show and The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson (both produced by Letterman's Worldwide Pants) will return next Wednesday, January 2. The other shows are coming back on that day too, but a key difference is that Letterman's show will be coming back with his writers, thanks to this deal hammered out by Rob Burnett and others. Both sides have been trying to come to an agreement for the past couple of weeks, and it actually looked like things might have fallen through last week.

As the strike lingers on and the Writers Guild of American (WGA) and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) seem no closer to bridging their philosophical and monetary gap, the WGA is set to try a new tactic. According to Variety, the WGA is going to make a "legal demand" today for individual members of the AMPTP to schedule bargaining meetings with the WGA. However, at this point it isn't clear if the companies are legally obligated to do so, and if not, will they?

Just when we started to get into this whole "who will replace Conan O'Brien" guessing game, we might have to find a host for another late night show: Craig Ferguson hints he might leave at the end of his contract.

Ferguson reveals to the St. Petersburg Times that he could leave at the end of his six year contract because he doesn't like being famous.

"I just don't know if I like being that visible," he said. "I don't know if I would want to ramp that up any more, you know. And people here find that, I think, quite difficult to (understand)."

Hey, Letterman fans: have you been watching the show the past few weeks? Have you noticed the changes on the show? I think Dave has a new energy that we haven't seen in a while.

I mean, the show is always good, in my opinion, even in the times that the critics have said "Dave's not as good as he used to be." But something is different the past few weeks. Dave has gotten a little crazy again. He's doing surreal segments, like having staff member Sue come out in the middle of his talking to the audience with a bowl of trail mix and asking him if he wants any (and when he says "no," swearing at him and walking offstage). He's doing really irreverent stuff too, like having fake "experts" come on to be interviewed and having something crazy happen in the middle of the interview. There have been odd "breaking news" stories that lead nowhere, and he even had a running gag last week that showed a clip of The Tonight Show's Kevin Eubanks laughing at jokes (I'd love to know how they got permission to do that, if they did). And last night's episode! Dave not only had an opening little sketch (with ex head writer Gerard Mulligan), but he had a cigar in his mouth! (Not sure if it was lit, but it looked like it might have been).

So, Dave is always good, but lately he's been really good.