They're Back! Part Deux

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.

"Now here's Dave"

JAY LENO may renew his nightly competition with DAVID LETTERMAN when he returns on January 2nd. According to the New York Post, Letterman is "poised" to announce tomorrow that he will also come back to television on that date. Letterman's production company has met with the striking Writers Guild of America to bring back The Late Show and its writers, but no agreement has been reached yet and no new negotiations are scheduled. Letterman could still follow the lead of Jay Leno, CONAN O'BRIEN, and JIMMY KIMMEL and go back to work on January 2nd without his writers. An insider told the Post, quote, "As that date gets closer, [Letterman] is going to be forced to make a decision."

Strrikkee!

Now entering its eighth week, the Writers Guild of America strike has shut down many TV shows and cost more than 350 million dollars in lost wages. And that's making for a bleak holiday season for prop masters, electricians, carpenters and other "below the line" workers, who have been forced out of work by the strike. Prop company owner JIM ELYEA says his business has dropped by 40 percent since the strike began November 5th, forcing him to lay off some workers and take a pass on exchanging Christmas presents this year.

In the meantime, reps for Late Show host DAVID LETTERMAN met with striking writers on Friday, in an attempt to reach a deal that would allow for Letterman's show to return to the air with its writing staff. Late-night hosts JAY LENO, CONAN O'BRIEN and JIMMY KIMMEL plan to return to their shows January 2nd without their writing staffs. JON STEWART and STEPHEN COLBERT will bring their Comedy Central shows back without writers on January 7th.

Here's Jimmy Kimmel!

JIMMY KIMMEL will follow the lead of fellow late-night hosts JAY LENO and CONAN O'BRIEN and return to work on January 2nd, without the help of his striking writers. Much like Leno and O'Brien, the host of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live made his decision out of consideration for his non-writing staff members. He said yesterday in a statement, quote, "Though it makes me sick to do so without my writers, there are more than a hundred people whose financial well-being depends on our show. It is time to go back to work."

Leno and O'Brien announced their impending return earlier this week, though they also won't have writers to pen jokes for them until the seven-week-old strike is resolved.

Most late-night shows have aired reruns since the strike began on November 5th. CARSON DALY resumed production on his NBC late-night show last month, and DAVID LETTERMAN's production company, Worldwide Pants, is reportedly seeking an individual agreement with the Writers Guild of America to bring back his CBS show and its writers, as well as The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, which Letterman's company produces.

Playoff, errr Strike Beards...

Here's Dave and Conan with their Strike Beards...interesting...

I'd Give the nod to Dave...he does have a few years on Conan...altough I did see a better pic of Conan's beard...but what can you do?

Such a warm and wonderful person....

JAY LENO has finally joined his late night brethren in lending a hand to his employees. According to the Hollywood Reporter, The Tonight Show host announced Saturday he will pay the salaries of about 80 non-striking staffers on the program for at least the next week. The Tonight Show, of course, has been in reruns for nearly a month due to the writers strike.

Leno is a little late in helping his employees compared to his counterparts. DAVID LETTERMAN, whose production company produces both his Late Show and The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, is paying the staffs of both series through the end of the year. And last week, CONAN O'BRIEN decided he would pay the non-striking employees of his Late Night show out of his own pocket on a week-to-week basis. Leno's decision comes after he rankled some feathers Friday when several staff members of The Tonight Show were laid off and told they may not be re-hired once production resumes. Several workers were furious, especially since Leno had told them shortly after the strike began they were not in danger of losing their jobs.

The Hollywood Reporter is also reporting comedian WANDA SYKES turned down the chance to guest host The Tonight Show during the strike and NBC mulled over the possibility of using a rotating stable of musicians as hosts. The network even considered having Leno continue to host the show without any monologue whatsoever.

Strike 2007! UPDATE

NBC's Bionic Woman and the SciFi Channel's Battlestar Galactica have become the latest victims of the writers' strike. The Hollywood Reporter says production of Bionic Woman, which has struggled in the ratings, ended last Friday. Battlestar Galactica reportedly was expected to close up shop today due to a lack of scripts. Both shows are shot in Canada.

The writers began their strike on November 5th, asking for more revenue from online sales and DVD rentals of TV shows and films. They also seek compensation for ad-supported streaming of programs online, an issue that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, or AMPTP, says it won't concede. The AMPTP also stated in newspaper ads yesterday that it has offered writers a share of licensing fees from websites that offer shows. The Writers Guild says it has turned down that proposal because the payments wouldn't kick in until six weeks after a show is posted online.

Your favorite primetime programs may not produce new episodes for a while, but there's hope that some major late-night TV shows will return as early as next month. According to Variety, representatives for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman and other late-night shows have had, quote, "secret back-channel conversations" to discuss when the shows could possibly return. Variety says there are some obstacles to overcome -- for instance, none of the shows wants to be the first one to resume production.

In other developments related to the strike, cast members of Saturday Night Live will perform a live show Saturday night at 11:30 p.m. at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City. The performers will deliver sketches, just like a regular SNL episode, except there won't be any cameras rolling. Superbad star MICHAEL CERA will act as the celebrity host. 30 Rock will follow suit at the same venue Monday night when the cast performs an actual episode, although it's not clear if it will be a rerun or not. Tickets for both shows have been sold out.

Strike, Strike, baby

Today marks the 11th day of the writers' strike. While there's no public sign of an imminent deal with producers, there continue to be developments on shows being affected by the strike. Here's the latest news:

* ELLEN DEGENERES has bailed on plans to bring her show to New York City next week. Striking writers had promised to show up and protest her decision to remain on the air during the work stoppage. Instead of appearing in the Big Apple, DeGeneres will continue to tape at her studio in Burbank, California. Though DeGeneres, who is a member of the Writers Guild, has come under fire for continuing to tape her show, Telepictures, which produces The Ellen DeGeneres Show, has released a statement saying she's contractually obligated to make original episodes since hers is a syndicated program and not owned by a network.

* According to the Hollywood Reporter, employees of The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson will continue to be paid through the end of the year, even if the strike is still going on at that time. Both late night programs are owned by DAVID LETTERMAN'S Worldwide Pants production company. The decision would make the production company the first and only to hand out paychecks during the strike. According to the Hollywood Reporter, checks will continue to be distributed in order to reassure employees worried about bringing in an income during the strike.

* Fox has elected to continue making new episodes of Family Guy without creator and executive producer SETH MACFARLANE, who is taking part in the strike. Several episodes that MacFarlane had already begun working on will be completed without him, the first of which is slated to air this Sunday. The last new episode done completely with MacFarlane aired last Sunday. It will be particularly interesting to see how episodes without MacFarlane's input turn out, since he provides the voices of many primary characters, including Peter, Stewie and Brian.

* One area in which the writers' strike may not have an impact is coverage of awards shows -- at least not yet. This weekend's American Music Awards, hosted by JIMMY KIMMEL, should go on as scheduled. The show's producer, BARRY ADELMAN, says since everyone knew a strike was on the horizon, the ceremony was pre-written before the work stoppage began. Still, Adelman does admit any topical joke Jimmy Kimmel makes will probably be ad-libbed by him

Strike UPDATE!!

Celebrities on both sides of the country supported writers in their ongoing strike yesterday. BEN STILLER, JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS and LISA KUDROW were among the actors who joined the picket lines in Los Angeles.The strike, which began on November 5th, has halted the production of several TV series. Grey's Anatomy star T.R. KNIGHT said production on the hit ABC medical drama will shut down today, and series creator SHONDA RHIMES estimated that the reserve of completed episodes will dry up shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Actors are also monitoring the strike because their contract expires next June. Two and a Half Men star JON CRYER said yesterday, quote, "This is a fight about the future of our rights as performers on the Internet, 'cause everybody knows that fairly soon TV, as a mode of delivery, is gonna go away." The writers are seeking more compensation for online sales and rentals of TV shows and movies. They have also asked for a cut of revenue from ad-supported streaming of programs online, for which they are currently not paid.

Writers were also seen picketing on New York City's Wall Street yesterday.The writers' strike is having a huge financial impact, and not just on the writers. According to today's New York Post, JAY LENO and DAVID LETTERMAN lose 100 thousand dollars each night their respective shows are forced to broadcast reruns. The Post also reports Leno and Letterman have lost a combined one-and-a-half million dollars during the strike so far.

Strike UPDATE!

You may have to go to bed without your JAY LENO or DAVID LETTERMAN fix for awhile. Their shows have scheduled repeats for this week as a result of the writers' strike that began yesterday. Same goes for Comedy Central's The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. The major late-night shows are recycling old episodes because they rely on current events for material.

ELLEN DEGENERES didn't report to work yesterday to tape her talk show, which airs during the daytime, in support of her writers. The fate of her show beyond today is uncertain for now. Today's episode was filmed before the strike.DeGeneres wasn't the only TV star to support the writers' cause. JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS and 30 Rock star TINA FEY joined strikers in California and New York, respectively, while Leno offered doughnuts to writers at NBC's Burbank studio.

The CBS drama Cane was forced to abandon a California café where it was filming due to noise caused by strikers in the area. Production was moved to a nearby CBS lot.The writers are asking for a share of revenue from Internet programming, but say they have dropped a proposal to receive more money from DVD sales. Still, the chief negotiator for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers doesn't believe a compromise will be reached anytime soon.

Actors should have an interest in how this disagreement will be resolved because, as Julia Louis-Dreyfus noted yesterday, their contract expires next June.