News > Late Night shows to be hit hard by tomorrow's strike
October 31, 2007
Written by John Lichman
Less than 24 hours before the Writer's Guild of America goes on strike, and there is still no word of a deal or agreement being reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
While studios spent the last month green-lighting sequels and projects in order to beat the November 1st deadline, only recently has the public realized that TV would feel the worst of the pressure. Namely, the late-night shows ranging from The Daily Show to any entertainment talk show--even Saturday Night Live, whose staff would be entirely comprised of WGA members or hopefuls, who would be unable to contribute anything for the web as well, according to the WGA's new strike guidelines.
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"Dave (will be) supportive of writers, as he was the last time," said Robert Morton, the former Letterman producer who was at the helm of NBC's ="Late Night With David Letterman" during the 1988 WGA strike.Morton, noting that Letterman and his "Late Show" colleagues are also WGA members, said the hosts will be hard-pressed to continue with business as usual.
"I think they have to show support for their writing staffs," said the producer, who now heads Panamort Prods. ("The Mind of Mencia"). "Even if they want to go back, they have to give their writers due respect."
While no word has been given, Leno and Letterman would have walked out in solidarity with their writers during the 2001 strike.
Under the Big Two's agreements, Letterman and Leno can "talk" with an audience, but not have a prepared monologue. It is unknown how this would apply to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but they would likely go into reruns or develop a similar platform--but are more sketch based.
