Late-night shows return after writers strike as actors resume talks that could end their standoff
Late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon, left, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert were scheduled to return to the air on Monday. It's the first time in five months that they’ll have new shows due to the writers strike, which concluded last week. Credit: Composite: AP
Late-night talk shows have returned after a five-month absence brought on by the Hollywood writers strike, while actors will begin talks that could end their own long work walk-off.
CBS' “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” ABC's “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and NBC's “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” were the first shows to leave the air when the writers strike began on May 2, and now were among the first to return on Monday night.
Comedian John Oliver got his first take on the strike out, exuberantly returning Sunday night to his “Last Week Tonight” show on HBO and delivering full-throated support for the strike.
Oliver cheerily delivered a recap of stories from the last five months before turnings serious, calling the strike “an immensely difficult time” for all those in the industry.
“To be clear, this strike happened for good reasons. Our industry has seen its workers severely squeezed in recent years,” Oliver said. “So, the writers guild went to strike and thankfully won. But, it took a lot of sacrifices from a lot of people to achieve that.”
“I am also furious that it took the studios 148 days to achieve a deal they could have offered on Day ... One,” Oliver said. He added that he hoped the writers contract would give leverage to other entertainment industry guilds — as well as striking auto workers and employees in other industries — to negotiate better deals.
Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns HBO, is among the studios on the other side of the table in the writers and actors strikes.
SAG-AFTRA member John Schmitt, second from right, and others carry signs on the picket line outside Netflix on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in Los Angeles. Hollywood's writers strike was declared over Tuesday night when board members from their union approved a contract agreement with studios, bringing the industry at least partly back from a historic halt in production. The actors strike continues in their bid to get better pay and working conditions. Credit: AP/Chris Pizzello
Colbert was scheduled to have astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson on his first show back. Kimmel booked Arnold Schwarzenegger, while Matthew McConaughey was set to be on Fallon's couch.
“I'll see you Monday, and every day after that!” an ebullient Colbert said in an Instagram video last week from the Ed Sullivan Theater, which was full of his writers and other staffers for their first meeting since spring.
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