Leno, O'Brien, Colbert and Stewart Come Back Without Writers, But Should They?

WGA members argue that a writers' residuals, or profits made from subsequent airings or purchases of a program, are a necessary part of a writer's income that is typically relied upon during periods of unemployment common in the writing industry. The WGA has requested a doubling of the residual rate for DVD sales, which according to the WGA, would result in a residual of approximately eight cents (up from four cents) per DVD sold.

---

The WGA removed the DVD proposal from the table the night before the strike began. However, WGAw President Patric M. Verrone later wrote that the membership exhibited "significant disappointment and even anger" when they learned of this, and as the removal was contingent on further concessions by the AMPTP (which did not happen), "all bets are off" on the withdrawal of the DVD proposal

Letterman's show is one of only two programs to make the strike come-back with a staff of writers. Not only that, but his is the only talker that's announced its guest list for the week.

Last week, Letterman released a statement saying he hoped the
independent agreement reached between his company and the WGA might
inspire the WGA and the AMPTP to resume discussions. To allow their
writers to return to work, Worldwide Pants accepted the terms the WGA
presented to the studios during their December negotiations.

Tonight marks a milestone in the nearly two-month-old Writers Guild of America strike against television and film producers: the major late night shows are all heading back into production. The Tonight Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Jimmy Kimmel Live will air their first shows since the strike, and will do what their forebears did when the length of the 1988 WGA strike finally forced them back to work: try to get by without their writers.

 
The situation is very different at CBS. After a negotiation process that started with hope and then appeared to hit snags, the WGA reached a separate agreement late last week with Worldwide Pants, producers of The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

We know Stephen Colbert can write. Here he is writing his autograph at Watchung Booksellers back in November. Not only that, he wrote this book review on Amazon. He even wrote the #1 New York Times nonfiction hajrdcover bestseller "I Am America (And So Can You)" -- along with Richard Dahm, Paul Dinello, Allison Silverman et al.

 
Next week, we find out how important the et al. is, when "The Colbert Report," along with "The Daily Show" and other late-night comedy, returns to the air after a two-month hiatus for the writers strike. But unlike Letterman, who returns tomorrow night with writers, Colbert and the rest will be going it alone.

Perhaps the biggest hurt the television industry has suffered since the start of the still-roiling Writers Guild of America strike was the immediate cessation of late-night programming. There's a lot of money to be made in late night - in fact, a lot of money to be made for everyone in the entertainment industry, not just the TV networks - but nothing was happening since the first night of the strike when sets went dark from Los Angeles to New York.

 
And now, everyone is coming back - with the distinct advantage going to Letterman, who brokered a deal late Friday with the WGA to come back with his full writing staff intact. While everyone else will be ad-libbing and - one would hope - comically killing time, Letterman will have a full monologue and his famed Top 10 list to work with. Perhaps more importantly, he'll also have Williams and, soon after, a cavalcade of A-list Hollywood stars. It's a good bet every other host won't.

Only two late-night shows were affected when writers went on strike in 1988: Johnny Carson's "Tonight" show and Letterman's program, both on NBC. Carson was not a writer's guild member, so he wrote his monologue himself for the few weeks that he worked without writers.

His monologue, part of the fabric of American life, was welcomed back but Carson's writer-less debut in May 1988 didn't draw raves: "The whole show seemed lame," wrote the Washington Post's Tom Shales at the time, "unfunny comic Joe Piscopo, Ed McMahon showing photos of his little girl, a hackneyed arrangement of Irving Berlin tunes by the band and film of mating condors."

Letterman's "Late Night" substituted comedy with freewheeling filler. One gag had the show's associate director playing "Lady of Spain" on the accordion, night after night.

"Fifty-five minutes, ladies and gentlemen, 55 minutes to go!" he said early in one show. "That's all we're really trying to accomplish, is to eat up valuable network time."

Letterman weighed in frequently on the strike, calling network management "money-grubbing scum."

While the strike raises the possibility of train-wreck television, some performers may thrive in without-a-net circumstances. A critic in the New York Times wrote that Letterman's strike programs were often "downright exciting," a throwback to the early years of late-night television when there was more improvisation.

It's uncertain whether Letterman will get the chance to repeat the experience. His representatives were still talking with the union on Thursday. Donald Trump and Shooter Jennings are booked as a guest for Letterman's Jan. 2 show - if there is one.

There's a difference of opinion among union members about whether cutting a separate deal with Letterman is wise, Albers said. Some believe it would put pressure on NBC to settle the strike because Leno would be at a competitive disadvantage; others think it would be wrong to effectively reward CBS with a show using the services of writers, he said.

Sweeney has his own secret wish for O'Brien if he returns without writers.

"I hope he tries to hold a telethon to raise money for us," he said.