Late Night Is Back! Find Out When Your Favorites Are Returning After the 148-Day Writers' Strike

Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers all confirmed they'll be back on air after members of the Writers Guild of America voted to step away from the picket lines

Late-Night Super Group! Find Out Why Colbert, Meyers, Oliver and Both Jimmys Are Teaming Up Late-Night Super Group! Find Out Why Colbert, Meyers, Oliver and Both Jimmys Are Teaming Up
Photo:

Jon Kopaloff/Getty; Ralph Bavaro/BRAVO via Getty; Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty (2); Arturo Holmes/Getty

Some familiar faces are making their long-awaited return to late-night TV next week!

Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert announced on their collective Strike Force Five podcast social media on Wednesday that their shows are set to return next week after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) voted to end the writers’ strike effective 12:01 a.m. PT Wednesday morning.

The talk show hosts said in a joint statement that the “founding members” will return to their network television shows on Monday — nearly five months after they halted production on May 2 due to the WGA strike. 

Meanwhile, the fifth member of the Strike Force Five, John Oliver is set to return to Last Week Tonight on Sunday.

The five hosts — who had banded together in August to launch the limited-series podcast in order to raise funds for their out-of-work staffers during the strike — thanked their Strike Force Five team, their wives, special guests and listeners in a hilarious message as they announced the end of the podcast.

Strike Force is an idea. An idea that five men could talk on top of each other for 12 episodes and maybe somebody would listen,” they wrote. “As we say goodbye, we would like to thank all those somebodies. Truly, you were the heroes.”

“Goodbye for now. And hello for later, because we still have a few more episodes, unless Ryan Reynolds cuts off the cash,” they joked. “This is the Strike Force 5 signing off and the Late Night 5 signing back on…”

Late-Night Super Group! Find Out Why Colbert, Meyers, Oliver and Both Jimmys Are Teaming Up Late-Night Super Group! Find Out Why Colbert, Meyers, Oliver and Both Jimmys Are Teaming Up
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guest John Oliver during Mondays February 13, 2023 show.

Gail Schulman/CBS via Getty

Production on daily late-night shows including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Daily Show shut down with the network airing reruns after the WGA called a strike in May.

During the strike, several of the late night hosts voiced their support for their writers on their show including Fallon who told NBC News on the 2023 Met Gala red carpet that he “supports” his writers. "We have a lot of staff and crew that will be affected by this but, you know, they got to get a fair deal," he said.

Meyers also stood by his writers saying, "I love writing. I love writing for TV. I love writing this show. I love that we get to come in with an idea for what we want to do every day and we get to work on it all afternoon and then I have the pleasure of coming out here. No one is entitled to a job in show business."

He added, “But for those people who have a job, they are entitled to fair compensation. They are entitled to make a living. I think it's a very reasonable demand that's being set out by the guild. And I support those demands."

The Daily Show is also set to return on October 16 with an all-star roster of guest hosts for the remainder of the year after Trevor Noah announced his departure in September 2022. A new permanent host will be named in 2024, Comedy Central announced on Wednesday.

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While some late night shows are returning, production on scripted shows including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Grey's Anatomy and 9-1-1 remains halted amid the SAG-AFTRA strike, which began on July 14.

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