Yeah, I don't get this, are they saying that the pre-taped segments from the field are all ad-libbed? Is nobody writing those?

Also, when did Colbert and Stewart and the rest of the late night hosts become jerks?

great. cause the best part of the daily show is rob corddry interviewing some schmuck in ohio who wants to ban fruit loops.

ps., they're not jerks. jimmy kimmel said it best: he hates doing it, but they can't exactly leave their crews out of work when they can potentially do their shows with guests, filler, etc.

leno is a prick, though.

If they do their shows, the studios have no reason to negotiate. The only thing that the studios care about is losing money, and by going back on the air you're making them money.

I can understand why some hosts don't care either way about the strike (I'm looking at you Daly)... but Conan was (presumably) IN the writers union and I'd assume the rest are all in SAG or AFTRA. This is something I would suspect they cared about before they made it big and it's sad that they, the people best situated to make a difference due to their control of the shows and high bank accounts, aren't helping the writers. They're jerks.

i hate to say it, i do, but i think helping out the crewpeople (who i'm assuming get paid less than the writers, and receive jack shit by way of royalties, etc.) trumps supporting the strike.

sorry, i do.

If you take that stance then ultimately nobody working in the entertainment industry will make anything above minimum wage, with the exception of the occasional superstar. Most of those people are in unions too or will be in the future, they should be concerned about the ability of unions to negotiate with management without being undercut by the celebrities. If all the studios need to do is make the whole industry worried about losing their jobs should anybody ask for more money, then nobody will ever be able to get off the ground floor.

I'm usually neutral on these things, but simply asking for the same residual rate on internet sales that you're getting on DVD sales seems shockingly reasonable and understandable. The studios position that the writers deserve nothing seems exceedingly callous. You, as a writer, should be more sympathetic.

I'm with jbg on this one. I'd feel terrible if I was a talk show host and all my crew got fired because of the writer's strike and I was unwilling to go on and wing it. I don't think it hurts the negotiations, because talk shows are only a small sliver of income for the studios.

I was really looking forward to the return of Stewart and Colbert, but this will not actually satisfy. The interviews with airhead celebrities are, hands-down, the most uninteresting and not-funny parts of these shows. The funny bits at the beginning are the best. No writers = no funny bits at the beginning + lots more interviews promoting some movie I don't give a shit about. For that reason, I wonder whether Comedy Central will actually get the ratings boost from this that it thinks it will.

I never thought I'd see Ingen taking the more pro-union side against jbg.

totally, i usually watch the first 15 minutes of the daily show, and then tune out, unless it is a politician or author of a political book being interviewed. the trick is whether or not i remember to catch the moment of zen.

I will go ahead and agree with y'all to some extent w/r/t Jon Stewart, but disagree w/r/t Colbert. His off-the-cuff material is great, and I'm looking forward to see that again. The Word is my least favorite part of his show.