US late-night shows to resume next week after writers end strike

[September 28, 2023]  By Danielle Broadway
 
(Reuters) - Late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel are bringing their shows back to television next week following the end of the Hollywood writers' strike on Wednesday.  

Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscar party after the 95th Academy Awards, known as the Oscars, in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok/File Photo

The comedians stopped production in May when the strike began and in late August launched a podcast called “Strike Force Five" with proceeds going to out-of-work staff.

"The founding members of 'Strike Force Five' will return to their network television shows as of Monday, October 2nd and one of them to premium cable on October 1st,” the hosts said in an Instagram post.

They said they will release at least three more podcast episodes for 12 in total.

The roughly 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike in early May after failing to reach a new labor agreement with the major Hollywood studios that produce films and TV shows. The SAG-AFTRA actors union, Hollywood's largest union with 160,000 members, walked off the job in July.

The Hollywood's writers union said its members could return to work on Wednesday while they decide whether to approve a three-year deal that provides pay raises and some protections around use of artificial intelligence among other gains.

(Reporting by Danielle Broadway; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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