Strike Update: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert Return on January 7
December 20, 2007 by Chandra
Talk about an early Christmas present. Late-night comedy fans have a whole lot to get excited about these days now that Comedy Central talking heads Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will join their brethren on broadcast television for an early-January return to the airwaves.
That’s right, you heard/read me correctly. Broadcasting & Cable reports that both The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report will begin airing fresh installments on Monday, January 7, just five days after the scheduled January 2 resumption of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live and NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. All five of the shows will still be at a decided disadvantage in the laughs department, however, since none will have writers onboard to help concoct the funny stuff. Enter masterful David Letterman.
In the near future, look for news that CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson will be coming back too, as soon as/if Letterman’s production company Worldwide Pants, which owns both shows, cuts a deal with the striking Writers Guild of America. The upshot for fans of those two shows is that if the arrangement Worldwide Pants wants is agreed upon, the CBS chatters would have their writers to create fresh material for viewers, an obvious advantage for the Eye Network.
This should be interesting. It may show if Stewart and Colbert are funny or are just great at delivering funny lines written by others.
I agree, Jon. Many people familiar with both shows believe Stewart will do OK or better, while Colbert will probably have issues coming up with witty stuff to say on his own. Whether or not the latter will be funny if it happens depends on how much you dig Colbert. There are definitely more than a few who would get a BIG hoot out of seeing him fall flat on his face.