Just a few odds and ends. Here’s the latest I’ve seen on the late night hosts’ status:
Leno and O’Brien to Resume Their Late-Night Shows
By BILL CARTER
Published: December 17, 2007NBC officially announced yesterday that its two late-night stars, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien, will return to the air on Jan. 2 even if the strike against networks and studios by entertainment writers is not resolved by then.
. . .
CBS’s late-night star, David Letterman, is pursuing an interim agreement with writers that would allow him to return on Jan. 2 with his writers. Mr. Letterman is positioned to make such a deal because his production company, Worldwide Pants, owns both his show and the one that follows on CBS, which has as its host Craig Ferguson.
This weekend Mr. Letterman’s representatives said they had been negotiating with the guild for that interim agreement and were hopeful they would be successful, but the deal was not yet settled. One representative of a late-night show said that some members of the guild leadership may have concerns about making a separate arrangement with Mr. Letterman, and an agreement with the guild is far from a sure thing.
The plans of several other late-night hosts remained unclear. A spokesman for the Comedy Central channel said that no decision has been made yet about when or whether its two hosts, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, will return without writers. An ABC spokeswoman said a decision about when its late-night star, Jimmy Kimmel, might return remained day to day.
. . .
The writers reacted with anger when two talk hosts, Ellen DeGeneres and Carson Daly, returned to their shows. Mr. Daly even had hecklers disrupting his tapings. But the NBC hosts, along with Mr. Letterman, Mr. Kimmel and the Comedy Central hosts, have all won praise from the writers for staying off the air so long and for paying for their staffs out of their own pockets.
The Silicon Valley Insider has more (Daily Show-specific) speculation here:
Jon Stewart Targeting Jan. 7 Return?
Michael Learmonth | December 17, 2007 5:56 PMWe hear that “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart plans to go back on the air Jan. 7. Comedy Central says no decision has been made on whether Stewart and Stephen Colbert will return. But our understanding is that all “Daily Show” employees have been told to show up for work Jan. 7, whether a strike is resolved or not . . .
No substantive news in the following, but it’s good to hear that the DGA and WGA are talking prior to the DGA’s expected negotiations with the AMPTP (presumably to begin early in the coming year).
DGA & WGA Meet To Discuss New Media
The Directors Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America announced today they “will meet shortly to discuss new media, including what the DGA has developed from its research and studies. Neither the WGA nor the DGA will have any further comment on the meeting or any of the information shared in the meeting.” Is it possible that the Kenny Ziffren-drafted New Media proposal for the DGA could also meet with the WGA’s approval?
Since we’re keeping this blog family friendly (or we’re trying to, at least), I can’t post the title of this one. But I kinda have a girl crush on Nikki Finke right now.
The following “Open Letter To The Entertainment Industry” was posted this morning by the AMPTP on its website AMPTP.org. I can’t objectively post this same old s#!t again and again without comment. It sounds like yet another missive dictated by IATSE local boss Tom Short who continues in cahoots with AMPTP. Interestingly, the organization that reps the 8 studios/networks prolonging this strike refuses to focus on the central issue of its walking away from the negotiating table. Instead of making useless statements that defy objectivity, the alliance need to do something useful and schedule the next round of talks . . .
I completely get your crush on Nikki Finke. As I’ve said in other comments, that woman has thatchers, an incredibly massive set of them. I love people who say what’s on their mind, instead of tiptoeing around the truth like it’s going to bite them in the butt. Chomp or no chomp, the truth just needs to be said and she’s one who consistently writes it.
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I read Nikki Finke’s site too and can’t help but respect and admire the lady. One thing I read did concern me though. She posted the WGA’s guidelines for talk show hosts, and it said that if they returned, the hosts could not have monologues or characters among other things. I can see Jon still being able to return, but it seems impossible for Stephen to because his whole show is based on the character “Stephen Colbert.” What do you guys think?
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I read that one, too, Jessica, and I haven’t posted anything on it yet because I just don’t know how it will play out, whether Jon will manage to get a deal in place with the WGA, whether it would cover The Colbert Report if so, etc. But I agree with your take on it, that Stephen, for all his brilliance and experience as an improv-er, will have an exceptionally difficult time coming back on air without his writers. Even the fact that the International Press Academy just recognized him as “Best Actor” is an acknowledgment of that; more than any other late night host, “Stephen Colbert” is a character.
I’m following the developments with interest, you can be sure of that!
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If, and however, the boys come back, I just hope this new strategy works.
FYI: As hokey as this may sound, ABC News “Resident Psychic Correspondent” predicts the strike end-date (her prediction is at the very end of the video).
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I heard a report on the radio this morning that David Letterman has an agreement with the WGA, and his show will be returning with writers. I can’t find confirmation of that anywhere, so far.
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Argh. That should read “…Letterman has reached an agreement…” That’s what I get for posting before I’ve had a full dose of caffeine.
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@Ms.I&Jessica: I had the same thought. Stephen probably couldn’t even improvise tosses with Jon because that would count as portraying a role. Practically the only solution I can think of is to have Jane Fonda back on four nights a week squirming in Stephen’s lap. Stephen can’t talk with a 70 year old in his mouth, and he wouldn’t stay in character either.
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He could probably get away with doing extensive interpretive dance numbers, too. But funny as that would be (and how could it not be?), it still wouldn’t be The Colbert Report.
Stinking AMPTP!
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