Late night TV returns: News from the various shows
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I didn’t watch last night (y’all are tiring me out; I went to bed early), but the below is a roundup of the news I found interesting this morning.
- The Daily Show and The Colbert Report: Still off the air until Monday, but The New York Times noted this morning that Jon is still seeking an interim agreement with the WGA for both shows akin to the one Dave Letterman was able to obtain. As recently as yesterday, representatives from both shows were meeting with the WGA. In the meantime, writers from both shows contributed (both with written words and personal appearances) to last night’s “Top 10″ list on Dave’s show.
- The Late Show with David Letterman (all links below are from Deadline Hollywood Daily unless otherwise noted): Returned with a full contingent of writers, a chorus line carrying picket signs, insider jokes, an intro from Hillary Clinton (who did NOT have to cross a picket line) and facial hair. A very funny show, from the sound of things. And Dave’s writers continue to set an example for commitment to the strike; they’re donating a part of their salaries each month until the strike ends to the WGA Strike Fund (info on WGAE Strike Fund here, WGAW here) and the Actors Fund (assistance for other entertainment professionals, including below-the-line workers; info here). I can’t say enough about these guys; it’s wonderful to see such selflessness and generosity in the midst of this mess.
- The Tonight Show: Jay returned with a monologue; The Boston Herald saw it as the best of the returning shows, but Nikki Finke opined that the monologue broke strike rules, and the NPR comment I heard this morning noted wryly that Leno “could have used” (i.e. obviously would have benefitted from) some writers. I’m sure we’ll hear more about this. Mike Huckabee was Jay’s guest, and the WGA was not pleased to see him there. He managed to avoid crossing a physical picket line by ducking through a Telemundo gate, a gate that the WGA will now feel free to picket in the future.
- Late Night with Conan O’Brien: Lots of time-killing. NPR noted Conan’s tactics like “seeing how long he could spin his wedding ring”, and the New York Times commented that he made a “running gag” out of drinking his water (“That’s good water.”) The verdict from Deadline Hollywood Daily: “[I]t was his lame opening that really surprised me. Forget that it was not funny at all. Which clearly meant no writers were used to prepare it, WGA or scabs. But I thought it bizarre that Conan had barely referred to the writers strike, even though he has been a WGA member for some time. But then I discovered that when NBC gave me the “official” transcript of O’Brien’s remarks, they left out every sentence he said in support of the writers. That’s right — NBC didn’t provide me with the whole transcript of Conan’s monologue. Now they’re trying to claim it was just a giant mistake.”
- Jimmy Kimmel Live!: Included an interesting comment, according to Deadline Hollywood Daily: “[H]e defended his fellow late night hosts who were returning without their writers. ‘But there have been writers striking outside The Tonight Show, and Conan had people striking outside, which I — by the way, I don’t want to depart too much from the party line — but I think it’s ridiculous. I mean, Jay Leno paid his staff while they were out of work, Conan did the same thing and um, I don’t know. I just think at a certain point you back off a little bit.’”
- Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Came back with a guest-free, all WGA show. The audience may have been momentarily disappointed, but Ferguson sounds like he relished the opportunity to have an audience again:
“So I had two whole months off work. Two months – it was horrible. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Well, I knew one thing to do, but once you do that one thing. After that, you have the rest of the day. Grew strike beard. Got itchy so I shaved it off. Then grew it back again. That was just the 1st day.
. . .
“No one knows how long this strike will go on. The two sides aren’t talking to each other. It’s like being married. Have to go to bed at night without anything happening, play rerun in your head. It’s good to be back, but not really business as usual. No guests tonight. None. [reaction from crowd]. Don’t you ‘oh’ me – you’ll get your money. Tonight it’s all comedy. And we use that term loosely here. Whatever the hell we do – drama and funny costumes. God it is good to see you!!!”
Here’s hoping that everyone (and that means writers, too) gets a happy return, and soon. Step up, AMPTP!
EDITED TO ADD: HuffPo has some video from the late night talkers’ return. (Thanks for the link, barenjager.)
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15 Comments
January 3rd, 2008 at 8:01 am
They’ve posted a medley of late night clips on Huffpo, bless their tiny, red hearts.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/03/latenight-hosts-return-_n_79411.html
I hope they do the same for Colbert and Stewart.
Also, I hope Colbert and Stewart grew strike beards, although I’m sure the resultant fangirl fueled explosion could utterly decimate what is left of the ozone layer.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 8:13 am
Kudos to Jimmy Kimmel for missing the point. ;P And to Leno for being ignorant of the strike rules.
I watched some of Letterman last night, but yeah, I had to go to bed too so not all the way through. I loved the Top Ten, especially the “inappropriate relationship with a copier” one. ;)
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January 3rd, 2008 at 9:16 am
I caught both Letterman and part of Craig Ferguson as well last night, and Letterman’s writers should be exceptionally proud of the show they put on. It was a perfect balance of lighthearted comedy (something I think us late-night TV junkies all desperately needed) and attention brought to the strike and the writers’ cause. It was wonderful to see some of the TCR and TDS writers actually perform the lines they wrote for the “Top 10″ list. Dave didn’t use his show as a soap box, but it was used as a platform, and he did it perfectly. He and his writers did make it a point to direct a great deal of material toward addressing issues of the strike, but there was no name-calling, hostility, or below-the-belt shots. He and his writers used their craft in a way to bring attention to the cause, while they entertained the masses and allowed everyone watching to laugh out loud again.
I couldn’t have been more pleased with the outcome, so a Tip of the Hat to everyone at the show. Well done, ladies and gentlemen. Well done.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 9:30 am
I thought Letterman and his crew did an outstanding job but I feel sorry for the other late show hosts who are in a bind. It’s not their fault, it’s the AMPTPs but they (and their writers) are paying the price.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 9:58 am
From the NYT article: ‘Before Mr. Leno’s taping, Sherry Goldman, a spokeswoman for the Writers Guild of America East, said: “If we think there are things to question, someone will bring the question before the council of the guild. They could be subject to action by the disciplinary committee.” She did not specify what form that discipline might take.’
I’ll bet someone three virtual beers that TCR ’specifies’ this by replaying the bitch-slapping of Stephen the writers prepared for the Emmys.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 11:02 am
I watched most of Letterman and Conan and during the commercials I switched to Leno and Craig. I think it’s horrible that NBC censored Conan’s transcript, but I felt that Conan himself was funny. I loved his uncomfortable improvs…per usual. He was actually my favorite of the four lastnight. I especially loved that little tour of his day (using a real guitar in “Rock Band” was hilarious), his beard, and his hint that because his show was so bad, that the strike would be solved Thursday. I loved Dave’s Top 10…especially that TDS writer who needed a girlfriend (which they showed him during an interlude later in the show in a room full of those girls from the chorus line).
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January 3rd, 2008 at 11:41 am
I tivo’d and watched all of the late night shows and all seemed fine and equally entertaining. To be honest, I am so sick of hearing about the strike. I was behind all the writers 100% when it started, but now I’ve just gotten to a point where I am so tired of hearing about it and all the complaining on BOTH sides. I wish it would just end (and not necessarily because I miss new shows). I also feel so sorry for the people who are not writers and have lost or may soon lose their jobs. Where is their support? Most of them make significantly less than the writers (lighting, make-up, assistants, etc.) and are being put out of work because writers want MORE money. Not that their demands are selfish, they deserve what they have worked for, but it almost casts them in a selfish light when you look at it that way. It’s not like their striking for safety or working conditions or anything pertinent like that, it’s just for more money.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 11:55 am
@ Justin,
Believe me, I understand your strike-fatigue; I’m really looking forward to a day when I can blog about nothing but fluffy and entertaining Colbert news again.
On one point, however, I have to disagree with your characterization: the writers aren’t exactly striking for more money. As I understand it, writers currently get $20,000 in residuals when a show they’ve penned gets rebroadcast on the air. They get $0 when the show is legitimately “rebroadcast” on the internet. The studios are moving more and more to a business model that only rebroadcasts on the internet, which means that writers who have worked on shows in the past are facing a sizable pay cut.
I think the numbers are a little different for the Comedy Central writers (at the least) because of the way Comedy Central reruns their shows on the following day, but that’s what the real dispute over new media is; it’s not an additional revenue stream for the writers, but the substitution of where their pay originates from (network rebroadcasts to internet streams).
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January 3rd, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Umm I confused, Conan talked about the writers strike saying he fully supported it and he was hoped they get was they deserved. Also I thought Conan’s show was really good last night, he was really funny and that video they showed was really great. Also he has a beard, that’s just funny in itself.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
@ Lindsey… he did talk about it, but NBC censored it from the transcripts…
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January 3rd, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Thanks, Ms Interpreted. That was a different perspective I hadn’t yet heard. That makes complete sense, but I think writers are getting too much sympathy when you can almost say that the WGA is doing the same thing to other workers on television that the AMPTP is doing to the writers – withholding money. By striking, they are putting thousands of people out of work who rely on that money in many cases more so than writers. It is also taking a toll on local businesses and hurting the economy, which I think I heard was estimated at around $500 million lost. When looking back, though, this should have been settled before it even began. The AMPTP could have easily adjusted contracts to more accurately suit the times, just like every other industry in the world has to do.
Also I want to bring something up about last night’s shows. When I watched Leno and Conan and, honestly, didn’t notice much difference between now and when they had writers, it seems to me that if I WEREa writer for those shows I would be offended. I would desperately want them to crash and burn, but they most certainly did not. It just seems like that would kind of lower the importance of your job as a writer on that show in the public’s eye. TDS and TCR will be an entirely different story, though, since most of the show is scripted. I look forward to seeing how that unfolds on the 7th.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 4:08 pm
@ Justin…”When I watched Leno and Conan and, honestly, didn’t notice much difference between now and when they had writers…”
I didn’t watch Conan, but I could tell a difference with Leno. He seemed to be at a loss a number of times during the show.
One of the things I loved on Letterman was his (scripted) comment relative to what people must be thinking about the show: “This crap is written?” LOL Great sense of humor.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 4:13 pm
@ Ms Interpreted…”I understand your strike-fatigue; I’m really looking forward to…fluffy and entertaining Colbert news again.”
Me, too. You’re doing a great job of steering NFZ along a sane middle course through what sometimes seems like a war zone relative to the strike, though.
Just wanted to express my appreciation.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 4:42 pm
@ auds,
Thanks. Burnout is a very real possibility for me right now, so I can only imagine how frustrated the writers and hosts must be.
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January 9th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
[...] writers from Craig Ferguson’s show for too long now. Remember how Dave’s writers had pledged a portion of their salaries to the Strike Fund (WGAE here, WGAW here) and Actors Fund until the strike ends? Writers from The [...]