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Late-Night Hosts May Defy Strike

Posted Dec 14, 07 2:57 PM CST in US,  Arts & Living 

(Newser) – Late-night talk-show hosts are considering getting back on the air even as the writers' strike continues, Variety reports. Although Jay Leno, David Letterman, and others initially supported the strike, network sources say a breakdown in negotiations between writers and producers and late-night shows’ plunging ratings have the hosts planning a return to the airwaves Jan. 7 or earlier.

Nothing has been officially decided and all camps are mum on who will return first, but rumors say the big four (Letterman, Leno, Conan O’Brien and Craig Ferguson) might all return at the same time out of fear of being the first host back. It’s also possible that Leno and O’Brien will return in early January even if Letterman doesn’t.

Source Variety

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Joe Medeiros, head writer of "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," walks a Writers Guild of America picket line outside Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)   (Associated Press)
"The Tonight Show" talk show host Jay Leno greets supporters of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and others on the picket line in front of Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif., Tuesday, Nov.,...   (Associated Press)
Comedian Conan O'Brien hosts the Primetime Emmy Awards in this Sept. 22, 2002 file photo, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, file)   (Associated Press)
In this photo released by CBS, talk show host David Letterman is interviewed on the Ball State University campus radio station that he helped found as an undergraduate, Friday, Sept. 7, 2007 in Muncie,...   (Associated Press)
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Hollywood writers' strike • Writers Guild of America • David Letterman • Jay Leno • late night talk show • Conan O'Brien • late night host • Craig Ferguson


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