Several late-night hosts will celebrate the New Year tonight with new episodes, their first since the writers' strike began nearly two months ago. NBC's JAY LENO and CONAN O'BRIEN, CBS' DAVID LETTERMAN and CRAIG FERGUSON, and ABC's JIMMY KIMMEL will all make their return tonight.
Letterman and Ferguson will hold a competitive advantage over the other hosts. Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, which owns both Late Show and Ferguson's Late Late Show, reached a deal with the Writers Guild of America last week, clearing the way for their writing staffs to return to the job. Leno, O'Brien and Kimmel will have to make do without their writers until the strike is resolved, or NBC elects to secure its own deal.
One early sign that the pact will benefit Letterman and Ferguson: the Screen Actors Guild said its members are now open to appearing on the CBS late-night programs. The WGA has announced that they'll be picketing Leno's L.A. studios and Conan's New York studios, meaning any guests booked on those shows would have to cross a picket line to do so.
Many stars have shown their solidarity with the writers since the strike began on November 5th. Letterman has already lined up one actor for tonight's show: ROBIN WILLIAMS, who will appear along with country musician SHOOTER JENNINGS. Leno's The Tonight Show will welcome Republican presidential candidate MIKE HUCKABEE tonight, while the other late-night shows had yet to announce their guests as of yesterday.
The major late-night shows have aired reruns in the last two months, with NBC's CARSON DALY having resumed production on Last Call about a month ago. Comedy Central's The Daily Show and The Colbert Report will go back on the air without their writers this Monday, and Fox's Saturday-night chatfest, Talkshow With Spike Feresten, reportedly will return on January 12th.
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