After two months of no writers on their staff, Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno (both of NBC blood) will return to their shows, officially crossing the picket lines. Both of the late night hosts supported, both emotionally and financially, their writers during the last two months. Reluctantly, the comedians will go back to their shows, without writers, in order to help hundreds of other employees who are suffering from the strike.

Both shows will return without their writers, The Associated Press reported, leading to conjecture over what form the programs will take. In recent years, late-night talk shows have been as much about scripted comedy routines as talk, unlike the raconteur-driven versions of the form hosted by people such as Jack Paar.

In a statement, O’Brien acknowledged that “[a]n unwritten version of ‘Late Night,’ though not desirable, is possible — and no one has to be fired. So, it is only after a great deal of thought that I have decided to go back on the air on January 2nd,” he said.

“I will make clear, on the program, my support for the writers,” he continued. “Of course, my show will not be as good. In fact, in moments it may very well be terrible. My sincerest hope is that all of my writers are back soon, working under a contract that provides them everything they deserve.”

Leno said in a statement that he was hoping for a quick solution to the strike. But “now that the talks have broken down and there are no further negotiations scheduled I feel it’s my responsibility to get my 100 non-writing staff, which were laid off, back to work,” he said.

“We fully support our writers and I think they understand my decision,” Leno said.

Both Leno and O’Brien have been paying staffers’ salaries since early December, following in the footsteps of David Letterman, who has paid the employees of his “Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” since the strike began November 5. Letterman’s production company owns both his and Ferguson’s shows, which air on CBS.

Leno, O’Brien and Letterman are all guild members.

I think its nice that both Conan and Jay paid their peeps for that long. They are both probably millionaires, at leastfive times over! I think Conan will be okay without writers because he’s a naturally funny and charismatic guy. Leno, on the other hand, has always annoyed me and has never really made me laugh. I can’t see his show being that entertaining without writers. What do you think?

Good luck to the writers who are going jobless during the holiday season. I hope that they get their shit together so their families don’t suffer too much!

(Source)

Today is Jay Leno’s birthday! He is 57 years old. I don’t think he looks that old, and if he dyed his gray hair to black, I think he’d look even younger. But that’s just me! And today is also Jessica Alba’s birthday. She is 26, and I think she, too, looks a little younger. I’m sure you’re probably wondering why I chose a picture of Jay Leno instead of Jessica Alba, but I figure Jay Leno isn’t going to be in the news for anything much until he diess, so why not give him a title and a picture? You know?

Here’s a blurb about the birthday boy, thanks to Wiki:

Jay Leno (born James Douglas Muir Leno April 28, 1950) is an Emmy-winning American comedian who is best known as the current host of NBC television’s long-running variety and talk program The Tonight Show. He also owns Big Dog Productions, a company that co-produces the show. n the 2005 trial of Michael Jackson over allegations of child abuse, Leno appeared as a defense witness (many celebrity defense witnesses had been expected, but Leno was one of the few who actually testified). As a witness in the case, Leno was initially not allowed to continue telling jokes about Jackson or the case, which had been a fixture of The Tonight Show’s opening monologue in particular; however, he and his show’s writers exploited a legal loophole by having Leno briefly step aside while stand-in comedians took the stage and told jokes regarding the trial. Stand-ins included Roseanne Barr, Drew Carey, Brad Garrett, and Dennis Miller, among others.^[3] After NBC challenged the gag order, the judge permitted Leno to make jokes, as long as they were not related to his testimony. After the gag order was lifted, the next show featured a monologue entirely of Michael Jackson jokes.In his testimony, the defense expected him to say he called police to say the accuser was coached by his mother to ask for money. Instead, Leno testified he never called the police, no money was asked for, and there was no coaching but that the calls seemed unusual and scripted.

I had no idea Jay Leno was involved in the Michael Jackson case, maybe because I despise Michael Jackson and wanted nothing to do with his case. And I still say he’s guilty of being a creepy, child-molesting assjacket that needs to be behind bars!

Anyway, Happy 57th to Jay Leno! Oh yeah, and Happy 26th to Jessica Alba, too.