As expected NBC made the announcement today that Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien will return to their shows on January 2nd!
After two months of repeats, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" will resume broadcasting all-new episodes beginning Wednesday, January 2, 2008 (11:35 p.m., 12:35 a.m., respectively).
The late night shows suspended production due to the strike by the Writers Guild of America on November 5 and have aired repeats since.
"During the 1988 writers strike, Johnny Carson reluctantly returned to 'The Tonight Show' without his writers after two months. Both Jay and Conan have supported their writers during the first two months of this WGA strike and will continue to support them. However, there are hundreds of people who will be able to return to work as a result of Jay's and Conan's decision," said Rick Ludwin, Executive Vice President, Late Night & Primetime Series.
I am glad that late night is slowly returning, now if only Jimmy Kimmel would come back it would make Christmas a little more special!
UPDATE 1: No news on Kimmel as of now.
UPDATE 2: Both Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien have released statements via NBC:
Jay Leno:
"This has been a very difficult six weeks for everybody affected by the writers strike. I was, like most people, hoping for a quick resolution when this began. I remained positive during the talks and while they were still at the table discussing a solution "The Tonight Show" remained dark in support of our writing staff. Now that the talks have broken down and there are no further negotiations scheduled I feel it's my responsibility to get my 100 non-writing staff, which were laid off, back to work. We fully support our writers and I think they understand my decision."
Conan O'Brien:
"For the past seven weeks of the writers' strike, I have been and continue to be an ardent supporter of the WGA and their cause. My career in television started as a WGA member and my subsequent career as a performer has only been possible because of the creativity and integrity of my writing staff. Since the strike began, I have stayed off the air in support of the striking writers while, at the same time, doing everything I could to take care of the 80 non-writing staff members on Late Night.
Unfortunately, now with the New Year upon us, I am left with a difficult decision. Either go back to work and keep my staff employed or stay dark and allow 80 people, many of whom have worked for me for fourteen years, to lose their jobs. If my show were entirely scripted I would have no choice. But the truth is that shows like mine are hybrids, with both written and non-written content. An unwritten version of Late Night, though not desirable, is possible – and no one has to be fired.
So, it is only after a great deal of thought that I have decided to go back on the air on January 2nd. 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. Of course, my show will not be as good. In fact, in moments it may very well be terrible. My sincerest hope is that all of my writers are back soon, working under a contract that provides them everything they deserve."
I respect them for coming back and thinking of the other staff. They have supported the writers as long as they can, but now they have to think of the rest of their staff and the fans…and the ratings.
I am so glad that what Seth MacFarlane said about that if Fox finished his nearly completed Family Guy episodes without him that he would walk from the show, was something that was just said of anger. Family Guy will live on to hopefully to get their 200th episode, they only have 97 more to do to accomplish to that!
I also like that he is optimistic that the WGA strike will end soon and things will go back to almost normal. Let’s hope he is right because we are running out of episodes of our favorite shows and the awards shows like the Golden Globes and the Oscars are in jeopardy.
Charisma Carpenter, who is earning residuals from all the replays of Buffy and Angel on TNT, claims that she is broke and wants her ex to pay for her divorce costs according to E!
"At the present time, [Hardy] has the ability to work full time and make more money than I am currently making," Carpenter states. "[He] should be paying my attorneys' fees and costs…The court should uphold the spousal support waiver, but if it does not do so, it should award spousal support to me."
The 2004 Playboy cover girl says that her and Hardy's prenup includes a waiver of spousal support by both sides in the event that their marriage fails to last seven years. Carpenter filed for divorce Aug. 2.
But Hardy, who stated in a declaration filed Nov. 27 that he quit working for awhile to be a stay-at-home dad for their four-year-old son, Donovan Charles Hardy, maintains that he wasn't fully aware of what he was getting into before he agreed to the premarital arrangement.
"I do not recall any discussion regarding the waiver of spousal support, and no one explained to me what rights I was giving up regarding spousal support by signing the premarital agreement," Hardy stated.
He claims that before the couple swapped vows in October 2002 he earned $18,000 a year working as a hotel bellman and supervisor. Meanwhile, Hardy stated, Carpenter is capable of making up to $500,000 a year (what he says she earned in 2004) as an actress.
"I have recently returned to work, but I am making less than $2,000 per month and I cannot afford to go to school at this time," Hardy, a high school graduate, said.
What a b!tch. How could she be broke with all the residuals she has been making off of Buffy and Angel and Playboy? She was also slated to guest on the cancelled Big Shots, but her episodes have yet to air. She blames the strike but if it wasn't for the upcoming strike at the time Big Shots would not have been on the air long enough for her to even have a shot of role.
I watched both Buffy and Angel and it was her looks not her acting that kept her on the shows. I hope her husband who earns $24,000 a year wins out when they are in court on January 9th..
Watch with Kristin we will not find out who did until after the WGA strike ends.
Sources tell Krisitn Marc Cherry & Co. have already shot the next episode, but they are holding it until after the strike ends to keep fans guessing and make sure they return to the show when it’s back on the airwaves.
Marc I know you sat at the negotiating table before the strike, but if you take to long to air the episode I might not return. If I thought that Sunday’s episode was the last one written and shot before the strike, I wouldn’t be so hateful. But the fact that he is holding it really pissed me off. I say to ABC and Marc Cherry air that episode if you have it, think of the fans you want to keep and not lose.
BTW I never thought I would say I hate Marc Cherry because I love anyone who worked on Golden Girls! But holding back an episode to us loyal fans who watched three years of crap leading up to Sunday’s episode is just wrong.
OK I feel better now that I vented, here is a great death from the episode…one of the three deaths that is rumored to have occurred during the show.
