Late-night shoes continue to drop: Colbert and Stewart will return Jan. 7

This afternoon, Comedy Central announced that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert would return to the cable network's airwaves Jan. 7. Neither show has had new episodes since the Writers Guild of America went on strike Nov. 5.

That leaves David Letterman and Craig Ferguson, who hope to negotiate an interim deal between their Worldwide Pants production company and the WGA, as the only late-night hosts who have no official return date.

Here is Comedy Central's press release:

"'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' and 'The Colbert Report' will resume production on Jan. 7 with both shows returning to air that night without their respective writing staffs.  The Jan. 7 return follows a scheduled two-week, end-of-year hiatus that was previously built into the shows' production calendars.  We continue to hold out hope for a swift resolution to the current stalemate that will enable the shows to be complete again."

-- Comedy Central

"We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence."

-- Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert

More news on the strike

Comments

[stew]

well there you go...money talks.

[SPENCER]

Colbert and Stewart will do routines mocking the studios every single day, you watch.

And why isn't anyone discussing the Carlton Cuse deal with the WGA as a basis for negotiations?

[David Reynolds]

Apparently these guys are liberals right up until it looks like its going to affect their pockets.

[frank]

Seems your doing fine without them already,thanks for showing some common sence and helping many families thru the holiday season.

[Carol May]

Yes, the Colbert and Stewart make a bundle, but they also have a lot of other people working on their shows who make normal salaries. Camera people, sound, make up, food....

[Richard]

These guys weren't doing just fine. Both suffered massive double-digit declines in ratings during repeats. Sorry to see these 2 WGA members sell out. Or have they? No mention of WGA interim deals attempted here. Anyone?

[kim]

ABC, CBS, NBC, CC; what's it spell
SCCCCABN

[me]

I'm so torn - I missed those shows so much but I really want the writers' strike to point out that who makes money off of what in Hollywood is messed up... So, I'll probably be watching but with guilt.