With the writers strike at an end, late night shows will be among the first to resume production.
The four network talkers — ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, CBS’ Late Show With Stephen Colbert and NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers — will all return to the air on Oct. 2. HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver will precede them by a day, settling back into its usual Sunday night spot on Oct. 1.
The five hosts, who together did the Strike Force Five podcast to raise money for their out-of-work staff, jointly announced their returns on the show’s Instagram account.
HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher is also returning, the host wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Tuesday night.
After reaching a tentative agreement with media companies, leadership of the Writers Guild of America voted on Tuesday to end the strike, allowing its 11,500 members to return to work. The contract still has to be ratified through a vote by the full membership, set to take place in early October. (Early reaction on social media to the details of the contract has been overwhelmingly positive.)
Late night shows were among the first programs to shut down after the WGA called its strike on May 2, as they rely on freshly written material for each night’s show. Maher said on Sept. 13 that he would restart production on his show without writers, then reversed course a few days later as negotiations resumed.
