Late-night talk shows are set to go dark starting on Tuesday after writers agreed to strike. This means no more witty jokes, hilarious skits, or celebrity interviews for a while.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and The Daily Show will be hit, along with weekly shows such as Saturday Night Live, Real Time with Bill Maher, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
Late-Night Shows Forced to Go Dark Following Writers Guild Strike – Leaving Fans Heartbroken and Show Staff Anxious About Job Security
Colbert was supposed to have Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Chita Rivera on Tuesday’s show. However, he’ll have to settle for reruns. Fallon was set with Ken Jeong and Emma Chamberlain, but now he’ll have to find other ways to entertain himself. Kimmel was welcoming Dr. Phil, Gina Rodriguez, and The Pixies, but now he’ll have to watch his own reruns. Meyers, who loves writing and the show, is also affected and said that those who have a job are entitled to fair compensation.
Pete Davidson, who was set for his SNL return on May 6, joked that the strike was personal, and we hear that there are a number of possibilities for the show if there is a strike. Two of the nightly hosts, Kimmel and Colbert, went through this situation in 2007-08, so they know the drill. However, writers who work on comedy variety programs made for new media do not qualify for MBA minimums, something the WGA has been fighting for.
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Late-night showrunners have told Deadline that they will stay in touch with each other as the strike progresses to give a unified approach to the situation, something that didn’t happen in 2007–2008. One SNL star told Deadline: “We have to think about our crew too. We can’t make this art without each other.”
So, it’s not just the writers who are affected, but the entire crew. Let’s hope they figure out the happy medium soon so we can all laugh again!