Less than a week after the Writer's Strike was called to a halt, the big late night chat shows returned to US television screens last night.
The likes of Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Myers all made reference to the lengthy gap since their last episode in their opening monologues.
Colbert said: "It feels good to be back. It feels good to be with all of you again here in the Ed Sullivan Theatre. Because after the first few months of the strike, [his wife] Evie refused to keep chanting my name. But now the writers’ strike is over, with a new contract that includes protections from A.I., cost of living increases, better pay for streaming. Plus, thanks to the picket lines, my writers got fresh air and sunshine — and they do not care for that. Not they’re back safely in their joke holes, doing what they do best: Making my prompter word screen full of good and ha-ha!"
Jimmy Fallon, meanwhile - who was accused of mistreating staff in recent months - said: "Five months off and we are back. I am so excited to be here. I am more excited than a guy seeing ‘Beetlejuice’ with Lauren Boebert. More excited than a Jets fan during the first three plays of the season. Even my dad called and said he’s so excited to watch Kimmel.”
He added: "Glad the writers got the fair deal that they deserve. You’ve got to hand it to them: Only writers would spend all summer trying to get back to the office."
Kimmel, meanwhile, opened the show by saying "In case you’ve forgotten, my name is Jimmy. I have been off the air for five months. We’ve been gone so long, ‘The Bachelor’ is now a grandfather.
"We missed so much good stuff. Donald Trump got arrested four times while we were on strike: Once for the classified documents, once for interfering with the election, once for Jan 6th, and once for shooting Tupac. Allegedly. You know what the weirdest thing about being off the air is? When I walk into a room, nobody claps. I walk into Costco. I get nothing."
Meanwhile, there is hope that the Screen Actors' Guild strike will end soon too, as talks are ongoing with both parties due to reconvene tomorrow.
