Late night TV is finally returning in the wake of the WGA strike coming to an end. On Wednesday, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver shared in a joint statement they would be returning in the next week.
Oliver, who hosts HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” will return on Sunday. As for the rest of late night, the series will return starting Monday. That includes “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”
NBC confirmed that “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers” would return on Monday to their original time slots of 11:35 p.m. and 12:35 p.m., respectively. Episodes will be available to stream the next day on Peacock, which is owned by NBCUniversal.
Lorne Michaels executive produces both series. Chris Miller and Gerard Bradford produce “The Tonight Show” with Miller serving as the showrunner. “Late Night” is produced by Mike Shoemaker.
When the WGA strike started on May 2, late night productions were the first to be impacted. Because these series produce new episodes daily during their seasons (with the exception of “Last Week Tonight”), late night stopped producing new episodes as soon as the strikes began. Ever since, ABC, NBC and CBS have been airing reruns of these series.
Partway through the strike, Fallon, Meyers, Kimmel, Colbert and Oliver started “Strike Force Five,” a podcast inspired by their weekly Zoom chats they had been holding in the early days of the strike, the proceeds of which went to the out-of-work staffs behind the five shows.
On Tuesday, the WGA formally approved the labor contract between the guild and the AMPTP, declaring that striking writers could now return to work. This new three-year contract includes significant gains for the guild, including substantial raises, minimum staffing requirements, a 26% increase to residuals and guaranteed protections on A.I.
