TV Q&A: Will late-night shows come back like they did during the last writers’ strike?
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Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review.
Q: During the 2007 writers’ strike, late-night talk shows (“The Daily Show,” “Colbert Report,” “Tonight Show,” etc.) resumed producing “scriptless” new shows (except “The Late Show with David Letterman,” whose production company negotiated their own contract agreement with their writers and hence returned to normal programming).
The “scriptless” shows were kind of lame but they were still far preferable to endless reruns. (One nice side-effect was that since most Hollywood celebrities wouldn’t cross the writers’ picket lines, non-celebrity authors and activists were regularly booked as guests—a trend that has continued today.)
Do you anticipate anything similar happening this time as the strike drags on?
-Mark, Squirrel Hill
Rob: My sense is broadcast networks are unlikely to attempt scriptless late-night shows in part because this strike is happening in the summer when they’re often in reruns anyway but also because late-night broadcast TV is no longer as valuable as it was in 2007-08. I can’t see the networks spending on a scriptless late-night show at least until fall. And even then I’m not sure they’d do it.
But I wanted to see what former New York Times writer, current CNN analyst and “The Late Shift” author Bill Carter thinks on the subject since he’s written more about late-night broadcast TV than anyone. He agreed that the importance of late-night shows has diminished compared to during the last strike.
“It does seem like they would have real difficulty having much impact considering a) how much lower the ratings are across the board and b) the lack of comedy material that is the basis for what they put on their YouTube channels, which has become a vital way for them to reach fans who dont watch linear TV. [Those YouTube clips have] continued to give the shows impact that the live shows struggle to do. So I don’t expect the network bosses are chewing nails about not having late-night shows on the air at the moment.”
But Carter sees one counterargument and a reason why a network may eventually bring back a late-night show even without its writers.
“If the networks simply back away for the duration of the strike, and don’t go back to any fresh late-night programming at all, they may see a genuine cratering of interest that will jeopardize the future of the whole genre,” Carter said. “One network or more might decide they’ve got to get these late-night stars in front of an audience again before that happens. I know the stars got antsy last time and didn’t want to be forgotten. As the questioner notes, Dave [Letterman] was able to come back because of his independent deal with the WGA, which drove the others to come back, though with not much comedy material. Except for Jay [Leno] who still did a monologue every night, which he said he wrote all by himself. He had to defend that claim to the Guild later, but he seemed to satisfy them.
“I do think the networks, in their gasping state, do see some remaining value in having original programming somewhere every night,” Carter continued. “And I still suspect if the landscape shrank to the point where it was like the early Carson days, with just one late-night show on offer, it might actually make some money! So they likely will be somewhat reluctant to be the first network to bow out of the genre.
“But I have a feeling the sentiment right now is to sit out the strike, hoping it doesn’t get to the point where there’s nothing left for the late-night hosts to come back to.”
Q: How much longer can “Young Sheldon” last? The actors are looking very mature and the timeline for the story arc is about to overlap with “The Big Bang Theory.”
-Dave, Whitehall
Rob: They’ll milk it until it no longer makes fiscal sense and producers know that and will portion out story in a way that achieves that without completely obliterating the established “Big Bang” timeline. There’s at least one more year of the show as CBS renewed it for the 2023-24 TV season.
Q: Do you know if PBS is going to air any more episodes of Rise of the Nazis?
-Becky, Brentwood
Rob: Per PBS, they do not anticipate “Rise of the Nazis” will return to PBS in 2023 or 2024. Beyond that it is uncertain if the show will continue.
You can reach TV writer Rob Owen at rowen@triblive.com or 412-380-8559. Follow Rob on Twitter or Facebook. Ask TV questions by email or phone. Please include your first name and location.