Late Night Talk Shows Set Returns for Next Week
Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver's talk shows among first series returning to air after the end of the WGA strike.
When the WGA strike against the AMPTP began in early May, late night talk shows were the first productions to shut down. With the WGA strike ending today, late night talk shows are officially the first productions to start up again. In fact, many of them are set to start airing new episodes next week.
CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers will all return with new episodes on Monday, October 2.
Furthermore, HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver will kick off new episodes on Sunday, October 1. Meanwhile, HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher will be the first show back with writers on Friday, September 29.
Later on, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show will resume new episodes on Monday, October 16 with guest hosts continuing to helm the series. A new permanent host is expected to debut in 2024. The list of guest hosts for the remainder of 2023 will be announced at a later date.
Since late August, several of these late night hosts - Colbert, Fallon, Kimmel, Meyers and Oliver - have co-hosted the podcast Strike Force Five. All proceeds from the podcast went to the out-of-work staff from the hosts’ respective shows.
The new episodes of The Tonight Show next week will be the first produced since a Rolling Stone exposé detailing allegations of a toxic workplace. Fallon has offered an apology to his staffers.
Furthermore, the return of Real Time comes shortly after Maher announced his decision to come back to the airwaves without his writers. That too courted plenty of criticism and resulted in him pulling back on those plans.
While these shows return with their writers, SAG-AFTRA continues to be on strike against the AMPTP. As such, these shows cannot feature guests promoting their work as actors. More guidelines are provided by SAG-AFTRA as to what their union members can and cannot do during the duration of the strike.