JAY LENO and CONAN O'BRIEN are coming back to late-night television on January 2nd, ending a two-month hiatus in support of the writers' strike. The hosts of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien are members of the Writers Guild of America, but they expressed concern yesterday for the welfare of their non-writing employees. Leno said in a statement, quote, "We fully support our writers and I think they understand my decision."
Until the writers' strike is resolved, neither Leno nor O'Brien will have writers to rely on for jokes and other material, a reality that O'Brien acknowledged yesterday. He said, quote, "I will make clear, on the program, my support for the writers and I'll do the best version of Late Night I can under the circumstances. Of course, my show will not be as good. In fact, in moments it may very well be terrible." No celebrity guests for either show have been announced yet. Indeed, it will be interesting to see what stars will be willing to appear on the shows, under the circumstances.
Still, the Guild appears to be forgiving, for now. The WGA responded to the news yesterday by saying, quote, "Jay and Conan have been supportive of us from the beginning, and we understand the pressure they're under from NBC."
There is precedent for a late-night host returning to work during a writers' strike -- JOHNNY CARSON did it in 1988, after two months of repeats. CARSON DALY resumed production of his NBC late-night show earlier this month.
What impact Leno and O'Brien's decision will have on other late-night hosts remains to be seen. DAVID LETTERMAN's production company has expressed interest in reaching an individual agreement with the Writers Guild to bring back his CBS show and its writers, at least until an overall settlement with producers is reached.
The Tonight Show and Late Night have aired reruns since the writers' strike began on November 5th.
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