I just got a tip in my e-mail: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are headed back into the studios on (deep breath) January 7th.
“‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’ and ‘The Colbert Report’ will resume production on January 7 with both shows returning to air that night without their respective writing staffs. The January 7 return follows a scheduled two-week, end-of-year hiatus that was previously built into the shows’ production calendars. We continue to hold out hope for a swift resolution to the current stalemate that will enable the shows to be complete again.” — Comedy Central
“We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence.” — Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert
Please don’t shoot the messenger (i.e. please please please try to keep the comments clean and relatively non-accusatory).
EDIT:
According to the NY Times TV Decoder Blog: “Both hosts are Writers Guild of America members, and a spokeswoman for the guild said it had no comment on their decisions to return.”
Holy crap!!!!!
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*FAINTS*
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Oh… poo.
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:D
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This is going to put insane pressure on both of them. Poor things.
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Okay, yay for the return, tears for the lack of writers. I hope this is resolved soon, but until then, I hope that their shows turn out great anywho.
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Wow, I don’t know what to think. This may be a stupid question, but how are they going to do the show without the writers?
I’m glad they’ll be back on the air (god knows I’ve missed them and perhaps their non-writing staff was threatened?) but I can’t help but have a bad taste in my mouth that they’re doing it without the writers.
I’ll stay tuned.
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Very well-worded statement from Jon and Stephen. I think “ambivalence” describes the way all their fans feel as well. I certainly wouldn’t want to be in their position. It’ll be interesting to say the least.
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Oh, PS, how great is it that they released a joint statement?
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I’m incredibly disappointed in both of them. Apparently, Jon was right when he said “I don’t view us as people who lead social movements…We are not warriors in anyone’s army.”
No offense, folks, but we boycotted advertisers and Comedy Central due to the strike. I don’t see how, unless we’re all hypocrites, how anything has changed just because they’re crossing the line. That suddenly makes it ok?
Ok, one thing is changed – my level of respect for these two and their principles. They’re right, apparently – they’re just comedians.
I won’t be watching until the strike is resolved.
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“I won’t be watching until the strike is resolved.”
Good point. I’ll definitely be wanting to, but I can’t imagine having the ratings be the same as with the writers being good for negotiations on the writers’ part, so I think I’ll be keeping the TV off, too.
I’m sure if I miss anything important, NFZ can fill me in.
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Speculation on my part but they must have been pressured by the advertisers to get the shows back onto the air. This can’t be good for the writers.
We probably need to, in all honesty, continue boycotting until the writer’s demands are met.
Which means, while I’m ecstatic that they will be back on, I would have no option but to continue not watching until the demands of the writers are met and their contracts renegotiated to their satisfaction.
I’m torn in half between sadness and jubilation.
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I like both of these guys as much as all of the other writers, but I assume that both of them are WGA members. What they’re doing is wrong, no matter how they might excuse it, or how funny their statement is about returning. They should not return. Shame on them.
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I’m still not so sure I’ll watch. I’m still really torn up about this. And I’m also not at all sure how they’re going to pull off the shows without going insane.
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I think they are just trying to save the jobs of everyone involved. Just because they are coming back doesn’t mean they don’t support the writers. Also, aren’t they just Comedians?
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Aren’t they going back with the WGA’s approval?
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Of course they’re just comedians. We can’t place them on pedestals. They are people that have been placed in a difficult situation and they are obviously doing what they think is the right thing for them to do. They certainly aren’t perfect. We can’t let our admiration for them (or for what they have stood to mean for us) cloud our perspective.
I’ll be happy to see them back. I’m disappointed that they won’t be back with their writers, but I’m disappointed in the whole situation more than anything else.
I’m still optimistic. I still hope that they have a strategy, and this is all part of it. I’ve been saying this since the notion of them coming back sans writers was first brought up… but I still think that if they do it right when they come back, it could help end the strike sooner. You have to think they’ve weighed the pros and cons and have decided that coming back will be the better thing for everyone.
Hopefully their statement is a hint at what is to come. That is, shining a spotlight on the issues. And perhaps combining their efforts?
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@ supernova8610,
The WGA has not yet issued any waivers for regular TV shows, although they are rumored to be planning a meeting with Worldwide Pants tomorrow.
To say that I have mixed feelings about this would be an understatement. I am particularly concerned about Stephen, as the WGA rules would prohibit him from doing “character” work, IIRC (and yes, WGA Writer, both Jon and Stephen are guild members). I said in an earlier comment that I thought it would technically be within the rules if Stephen just came out and did an interpretive dance for the entire showtime, but while I’d likely find that scenario funny, it wouldn’t be The Colbert Report I know, love and sorely miss.
Edited to add: Regarding my comment above about the interpretive dance, now that I think about it, I’m not even sure that’s totally kosher, since Viacom is obviously one of the “struck” companies. I’m glad I’m headed out of town for a while so I can have time to try to wrap my head around all of this!
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I can see that they have personal reasons for returning: their staffs’ livelihoods are threatened. I would also imagine they deeply resent being manipulated by Viacom into choosing between supporting one half of their staff against the other half. I can even see an argument (dimly) for attending the shows as audience members. (As long as they’ve chosen to go back, do we really want them to perform to empty chairs?)
But isn’t it going to be rather awkward for the audience members to cheer and laugh? Do we really need to be entertained that much right now?
And is there really a good argument for watching from home? Maybe Jon and Stephen have some really great strike-centered material up their sleeves–and I really do want them to suceed–but whatever they do will be archived. So why not abstain from watching until after the strike? I’m asking in a spirit of genuine interest as a true fan: could someone please make the case for watching for me? I’ll watch if you can make one.
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I don’t usually post here (though I lurk) but, nicely said, Erin. Jon and Stephen are human beings, and I’m sure there are no easy decisions in this situation.
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@supernova: judging by the “WGA Writer” comment, apparently not.
It will be interesting to see how they handle this, however. I will probably at least see what they do on Jan 7th, and if they are like the rest of the media and totally ignore the strike, I probably won’t watch after. …but they could be a valuable voice, one that has not yet had its national soapbox, in this strike…
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I don’t see it as them “crossing the line” – the writers probably agree with them returning in January as it will save the jobs of the rest of the production staff that I imagine out number the writers. Its a fair deal – the writers are still striking but the rest of the staff get to go back to work. With Late night talk shows coming back anyway I think it makes sense for the daily show and colbert report to come back. I really have no idea what the content of the shows will be though! Doesn’t really seem possible that they can do it without the writers, but i’ll guess we’ll see. Hopefully the strike will get resolved early into the new year!
I’m sure Jon and Stephen have thought long and hard about it and decided to take the decision that will benefit the most people. I guess there will be no correspondents on the daily show??
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I can’t imagine the two writing their shows alone. Friends must be helping (i.e. Paul Dinello for Stephen and possibly Jon). It’s an incredible amount of work to put together a hysterical half-hour. I do give them the best of luck.
I will be watching to support Jon and Stephen’s and the staff’s decision to forgo the strike. I will also be in support of the writers to hope that they will be able to come back with more vigor and the money they deserve.
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It seems to me that this decision was not made lightly nor was it a simple one. Both Jon and Stephen are between a rock (support for the WGA – as showrunners and members) and a hard place (the livelihoods of their staff and the continance of their shows at all in 2008). I remember reading about a “force majeure” clause (mentioned earlier in contract discussions) that might be threatening to cancel both show’s contracts with Comedy Central entirely. It might be Jon/Stephen w/o their writers or more reality TV. I’ll take the former.
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This news makes me feel pretty uneasy. I think I’d be more comfortable if Jon and Stephen were a bit more vocal about their support for their writers. They’ve been completely silent during strike and there haven’t been any sightings of them picketing either. I wish there was another solution to staff/cancellation issues other than going back on air…
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I’ll spare folks my litany as I’ve been spewing forth gobs of it for weeks…
I admire, respect, and support both Jon and Stephen for the work they do, their talent, and their ability to make us laugh until our faces hurt. I do not support this decision. No matter how you slice it, and put it in terms of any other strike that ever occurred since the beginning of organized labor (transit workers strikes, teacher strikes, etc.), crossing the picket line is always frowned upon.
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As much as I would love to stick with the boycott, I’m not sure I’ll have the will power to avoid watching them when they come back, at least for the first episode, especially since I’m really curious to know how they’re going to handle it. This is such a shame though, I was really looking forward to the feeling of total elation when the shows came back, but this is bittersweet at best.
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I dont blame them, other peoples livelyhoods are at risk… I am sure if they could, they wouldnt return without the writers… dont forget if the show gets cancelled everyone looses, so they have a contract that probably forces them to get to work…
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when I first saw this article, I was really happy, but the Report is not the Report without the writers. I didn’t think they were going to do this. the poor things, they’ve been put in such a hard situation.
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@vigwig: Force majuere” is going to be hard to enforce,when it has been the AMPTP that has refused to negotiate. it’s why Letterman, through Worldwide Pants is taking to the WGA about an agreement. Both TCR and TDS are produced by Spartina, Prds. and Busboy respectively. One imagines, that should WWP be successful in negotiating an agreement, they will follow suit by talking to the WGA
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@Kelly: Just to be clear, they will NOT be writing. Them’s the strike rules. Expect 22 minutes of entirely unscripted interviews, as I believe even preparing interview questions would be a no-no.
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I don’t think there was much threat of the shows being cancelled. Without TCR and TDS, Comedy Central is just a 24 hour commercial for Girls Gone Wild. And what about Letterman? If he’d held out for a couple more months, would CBS have just kicked him to the curb? “Take a hike, Letterman. Who needs ye? Get Carson Daly over here! Get Regis!”
The people whose jobs have been “saved” are being screwed over just as surely as the writers. They have been used as hostages. Their livelihoods have been threatened because studios refuse to pay the writers what they are owed. And Letterman, Leno, Conan, Stewart and Colbert are showing the studios that this tactic works.
Not that they’d be able to change anything about the way corporations suck the souls and humanity out of every living thing the come into contact with. No one person can do too much to change that particular fact of this American life.
But we don’t have to make out with it, either.
I don’t blame them. I’ve never been in a situation comparable to theirs or to the situation the staffs on the shows are in. I’ve never had a job so good that the prospect of losing it terrified me.
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Unfortunately in the US of Corporate America, the labor movement is at a clear disadvantage against the endless deep pockets and smarmy ways of the suits. I hope this tactic works.
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Off the tip of my head here: seems like it’d be good for them to return and work very hard to be supremely boring on camera. (Although, speaking for myself, I’m not sure I could ever find them boring.)
That way the non-WGAers keep getting paid. And none but the most addicted of us (i.e. many Delerium Tremens-ing NFZ readers, I’m guessing) will bother to watch the show, so ratings will stay low, so advertisers will continue to be unhappy, so pressure on the AMPTP to resolve the strike will persist. Right?
Geez. I’m Union and I’m an addict. I don’t know which allegiance will prove to be the Alpha Dog, come January 7.
Ambivalence.
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If you check over on Deadline Hollywood Daily, there’s a statement from the WGA decrying the return of TDS/TCR–directed at Comedy Central.“Comedy Central forcing Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert back on the air will not give the viewers the quality shows they’ve come to expect. The only way to get the writing staffs back on the job is for the AMPTP companies to come back to the table prepared to negotiate a fair deal with the Writers Guild.”
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I thought of a way for some of us to continue the boycott AND see the shows, whatever they may be without writers.. some of us download the shows daily through torrents… I intend to continue this practice, and not watch the shows when they air.. this way, I can still watch the guys I love, and not contribute to ratings and advertiser dollars..
and before anyone says anything to me about illegal downloads.. as a Canadian, I have no way to legally download episodes…
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You do the hokey pokey and your turn yourself around….
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This isn’t intended to be a snarky question at all (and I apologize that it probably will come out that way), but, are those of you who are boycotting Nielsen households? Because, if not, and unless you’re emailing/writing to/phoning the advertisers and telling them to discontinue adverts on TDS/TCR because of the strike…the boycott does nothing, as far as I know.
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A couple of things to keep in mind:
1. There are about 100 staff members, not including the writers, who are at risk of being unemployed at every show that is currently on strike.
2. The show will not be as great without the writers, which is still making a very strong point. The show probably will not be as funny as it was before, which could actually send a stronger message than staying silent.
3. Just because Colbert and Stewart are writers doesn’t mean that they will be writing for themselves. They will probably be improvising everything they do.
All in all, the late-night shows coming back are not hurting the strike. Think of all the scripted TV shows that are just gone indefinitely. Think of all the films that have come to a screeching halt. I don’t think the AMPTP is going to feel empowered by the late-night shows coming back. After all, 6 late-night shows are a drop in the bucket when you take into account all the prime time shows and movies that AREN’T happening.
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MadMoll – Neither Spartina. or Busboy fully own Daily or Colbert. They’re both produced in conjunction with Comedy Central Productions, which is massively tentacled media conglomerate Viacom. So even if a Letterman negotiates a contract with the guild, there’s little Jon Stewart can do to move forward on his own shows. That ball is in Viacom’s court.
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@ Alli you make an excellent point, the late night shows are a drop in the entire bucket, but Stewart/Colbert are very influencial drops. This strike has been agonizing for everybody, I can’t imagine the pressure Jon and Stephen are under right now.
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@purlgurl You got it right on the head. Unless you’re a Nielsen household (and if you don’t know what that is, chances are you aren’t), boycotting watching will do nothing ratings wise, although the solidarity might soothe your conscience a bit.
@jen I know a lot of us are scratching our heads on the overall silence from Jon and Stephen about the strike, but the truth is they’ve been busy working round the clock behind the scenes trying to get the non-writing staff paid for not being able to work on account of the strike. Livelihoods of staff’s families are at stake, and Jon’s been working to support them too.
Ambivalence is definitely the word of the day. I’m sure Jon and Stephen don’t like this one bit either, so let’s not give them too much of a hard time. I bet it’s like making someone choose between friends. Nobody wants to do that, but Jon and Stephen have to do exactly that.
I’ll probably be watching the episodes when they go on to see what they have to say. Hopefully they’ll throw in some jabs at the AMPTP.
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As much as I like the writers. There are a lot more people who will be able to return to work when Stephen and Jon come back. Double edged sword.
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No one loves Jon and Stephen’s shows more than I and I’ve had great admiration for the both of them. Now I’m sick and sad that they haven’t the fortitude to remain in solidarity with the writers, who only are seeking a fair deal. Such a shame that Jon and Stephen will take blood money, to get back on the air, instead of doing the right thing and standing with their writers. I think they’ll find that their dishonorable, contemptible, and craven caving in to the powers that be will cost them in the the long run. Such acts of selfish cowardice always bear bitter fruit.
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Whatever their reasons are, I don’t think they are selfish…or cowardly.
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ps. Huffpo linked to this story, you know. “First reported and NFZ” is what it says.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/12/20/daily-show-and-colbert_n_77784.html
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yikes – sorry, scabbing is actually a permanent deal breaker for me. its a shame, since these are the only two shows I ever watch anyway. whatever screws their bosses turned must have been unfair, but, at the end of the day, both Jon and Stephen can walk away with nothing but a promising careers ahead (thats called a good bargaining position, which they’ve not taken advantage of.). Lets hope vacation provides them some space to re-think this decision.
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CeCe Camden -
Stephen and Jon are many things, but I think nearly everyone here will agree with me when I say that dishonorable, contemptible, selfish, and cowardly are not words that describe them. Stephen and Jon are good and decent men and have shown their quality more times than I can count.
We don’t know what the full story is here, or what’s going to happen when the show comes back. Perhaps until then we should refrain from insults and name calling. Just a thought.
Carry on.
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Well, I support the writers and am disappointed that it has come to this, but I won’t blame Stewart and Colbert. They’re human beings who’ve been put in a lose-lose situation. They’re also hosts who are, as I understand it, obligated under a separate contract to perform, irrespective of their status as WGA members.
I think shamskygirl summed up the hosts’ predicament quite well over on another board:
http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=1162733&view=findpost&p=9437420
It’s easy enough for us viewers to support the writers by boycotting new media, doing letter campaigns, donating funds, etc. It’s easy enough for us because we have not put our livelihoods on hold, our own jobs and financial well-being are not at risk, and 200 staff members’ jobs aren’t contingent on our actions. So even if I were inclined to (and I’m not), I will not criticize Stewart and Colbert, because I haven’t walked a mile in their shoes (nor, for that matter, Geraldo Rivera’s mustache).
And sure, Jon and Stephen aren’t warriors in anyone’s army–nor should they be. I think some of us are so fond of Stewart and Colbert and what they’ve done for the civic discourse, that we have confused our admiration of them with our own sense of personal virtue. When they do social good, we feel that WE have essentially done social good, simply because we’re their fans. And when they do things that we think or hope we wouldn’t, we feel… what, that we have been misrepresented or personally betrayed? But Jon and Stephen are not our proxies, they aren’t the keepers of our conscience, and I see no reason or logic in being “disappointed in them.” They are doing what they judge to be best from where they’re standing, which is all that anyone can ever do.
Those of us fans upset about this, I think the ONLY expectation that we have a right to, is to do our own part–in our own lives–to fight corporate greed/big media/[insert your cause]. I won’t presume to question whether Stewart and Colbert have done theirs. As long as they are the perceptive, funny, conscionable political/media/social critics that they are, I will continue to cherish what they do and think very highly of them.
As for whether I’ll watch on Jan. 7… I would if I had cable and wasn’t a Nielsen household. But I don’t watch TV, haven’t had cable in years. (I discovered TDS/TCR from clips in blogs and websites, and started catching up on TDS when their site launched. And stopped visiting it when the strike began.) So I will resort to unofficial means. I will also continue to use pen, paper, and keyboard to bombard those blasted networks, advertisers, and the AMPTP aka… nevermind.
And when TDS and TCR are back with their writers and their fair deal… oh, what the hell, I’ll get cable and watch these shows that way!
Oh, the irony.
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And what’s with the scab-labeling witch-hunt? I can understand the anger, but as a viewer I gotta say, it’d be idiotic for the WGA hard-liners to try to alienate and tear down Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. That would be some of the worst PR they could bring on themselves. We know the world ain’t black and white.
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