The Return of Late Night TV…Sort Of
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Late Night, Talk Shows, CBS, NBC, News,
Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien will be returning to work directly after the holidays, with new episodes scheduled to air Wednesday, January 2. They’ll be bringing late night entertainment back to TV, something that’s been sorely missing since the writer’s strike started.
An NBC spokesperson said that Leno and O’Brien still support their writers, but by returning to work will give hundreds of people the chance to do their jobs. Of course, the late night variety programs will go on the air sans writers, so there’s no telling what fans will get. Currently, no guests have been announced for either program.
Meanwhile, David Letterman and his company, Worldwide Pants, are hoping to broker a deal with the WGA. If the parties can work out an arrangement independent of the dispute with the producers, the Late Show with David Letterman and the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson could soon also be returning with writers.
Entertainment Weekly
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Daytime TV Hosts Forging Past Picket Lines
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Daytime, Talk Shows, Syndication, Oprah Winfrey Show, Gossip, News,
The writers’ strike is still raging on, but several notable daytime TV hosts don’t seem to care. At least, they are walking through the picket lines to continue with their work. The writers’ guild has publicly rebuked Ellen DeGeneres for these actions, though she is not the only host to walk past the strikers. Oprah Winfrey and Rachael Ray are also keeping their shows going, so The Ellen DeGeneres Show still has some ratings competition.
Ellen has canceled some New York shows, but her studio in LA remains open. DeGeneres says she’s remaining open to support her staff, as a mind-boggling 135 individuals depend upon her show’s production to keep their own paychecks coming. Her actions, however, and the actions of other daytime hosts, are not endearing to striking writers.
AOL News
Alternatives For Late Night TV
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Late Night, Reality, Talk Shows, Cable, FX, MTV, Editorial,
It’s only been a full work week since Hollywood’s writers went on strike, and already it seems the days of great late night talk programs are long gone. The last time the writer’s guild went on strike, it lasted an agonizingly long 22 weeks. Without Colbert, Stewart, Letterman and Leno, how is American supposed to get its satirical, tongue-in-cheek twists on current events?
With a shortage of new scripts and a hiatus of many major shows, more Americans are now channel-surfing to find an entertainment fix. What they’ll find is a mishmash of reality TV - those wonderfully unscripted programs that are always there in the event of a script shortage. Channels like Travel, Discovery, Animal Planet and the Food Network are largely unaffected by the strike, though how MTV (and channels like it) will continue with their staged reality programs is anyone’s guess.
Instead of watching repeats on network TV, turn to these cable channels as the midnight hour approaches. Animal Planet, the Discovery Channel, E!, FX, The History Channel, and VH1 are among those still offering brand-new episodes. It’s better than re-runs.
MSNBC
Late Night Repeats for Writer-less Talk Shows
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Daytime, Late Night, Talk Shows, ABC, Cable, NBC, Syndication, General Hospital, Saturday Night Live, News,
If the Writers Guild of America strikes on Monday as scheduled, you can expect a slate of late-night reruns to put you to bed. Assuming a last-minute Sunday mediation session doesn’t prevent the 12,000 WGA members from walking out, daily productions ranging from The Colbert Report to Late Night with Conan O’Brien will immediately go into repeats. So much for November sweeps.
The impact will not necessarily be limited to evening fare; daytime chatfests like The Ellen Degeneres Show may be affected as well. Fortunately soap operas like my fave, General Hospital, have stockpiled scripts that should leave them immune for months to come.
Tonight’s Saturday Night Live with Brian Williams could also be the last Lorne Michaels production for some time. But given SNL’s lame tendency to air repeats anyway, who’d even notice?
Hollywood Reporter
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