The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Late Night With Conan O’Brien will return with all-new episodes on January 2. The late night shows had been put on a hiatus due to and fans had to endure 2 months of re-runs due to the writers’ strike,
“We are are not using writers,” a NBC rep tells UsMagazine.
In a statement, O’Brien,said, “An unwritten version of Late Night, though not desirable, is possible — and no one has to be fired. I will make clear, on the program, my support for the writers and I’ll do the best version of Late Night I can under the circumstances.”
Added Leno, “We fully support our writers and I think they understand my decision.”
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I know it’s rough, but both men are comedians. It would be a good thing for them to remember what it was like to have to write their own material. There is a certain point, where not having scripts written by other people would help the show be a bit more honest and of the moment. You didn’t mention Letterman here, but he has the least to complain about since his style is to run with a joke until it’s no longer funny, and new viewers are clueless to what made the gag funny in the first place!
I totally agree with prev. comment
actually Kelly, according to the arcane union rules, Leno or Conan can’t write their own material because they are in the WGA. They are basically only ‘allowed’ to sit there and interview people.
In fact if either one cracks any jokes that are deemed too funny (OK, only Conan is funny anymore) expect to hear him catch more flak than he’s already getting when they accuse him of writing the jokes.
Letterman is different because he is getting a waiver which will allow him to use writers because his production company has agreed to make any deal the writers strike retroactive to when he returns.
It’s a joke. The WGA has really mishandled the negotiations (despite the protestations to the contrary of union shills like Nikki Finke) It’s a shame it’s not gonna be settled until mid-January at the earliest.
Without spontanaity, comedy suffers.