Just Wanted To Point Out That I Was Right About The Writer's Strike And Late Night Television
I'm not right all that often, so when it does happen I like to gloat a bit. Okay, a lot. But who's counting?
Way back, I predicted that late-night show hosts would be forced to return to the air without their striking writers, following in the footsteps of the late great Johnny Carson, who also had to return without his striking writers in the last big strike. I said they would have to do so to save the jobs of non-writers on their programs. And while it may have been overlooked in all the Britney brouhaha (and my own nagging illness -shameless plea for sympathy-), sure enough...it happened.
Admitting he resembled "a cattle-drive cook," a bewhiskered Letterman returned to the Ed Sullivan stage, surrounded by placard-bearing pickets who looked – and kicked – remarkably like Rockettes, and said, "Two long months but, by god, I'm finally out of rehab.On the Tonight Show, Leno, clean-shaven, welcomed former Arkansas Governor Huckabee, who addressed why he should be in the White House. [...]
The reason for the shows' long absences, of course, was the strike by the Writers Guild of America, which put the show's scribes into cold storage – or, at least, on the picket lines. Letterman struck a deal with the Guild so his show could return and proceed in a scripted fashion, while Leno, as well as his NBC colleague Conan O'Brien – also sporting a beard – and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel, returned without theirs and were forced to ad lib their programs.
"A Jew, a Christian and a Muslim walk into a bar," said Leno, dredging up one of the oldest jokes on earth. "The Jew says to the Muslim – see, I have no idea what they say, because there's a writers' strike."
Okay, I didn't say they were hilarious, but at least you could see them (courtesy of the non-striking cameraman) and hear them (courtesy of the non-striking sound person) and note their coiffed hair (courtesy of the non-striking hairdresser) and marvel at their clear complexions (courtesy of the makeup artist) and gaze upon their designer suits (courtesy of the non-striking wardrobe person) and listen to the bands (courtesy of the non-striking musicians) when they cut to commercial (courtesy of the non-striking director). Continued on the next page
