The Simpsons episode which Jon Stewart guest stars in will air on Sky One next month. The episode - called ‘E. Pluribus Wiggum’ - will be broadcast on Sky One on Sunday 25th May at 20:30. A video of Jon Stewart behind-the-scenes on The Simpsons was posted up on YouTube back in January. Jon Stewart plays himself in the episode - with The Daily Show van.
Posted: Wednesday, 23rd April 2008 at 10:19pm by Paul
Thoughts are rolling in again as to who’s going to take over from Conan O’Brien on Late Night when Conan moves to The Tonight Show next year, and time is ticking away. Leno is, of course, retiring next year - unless NBC executives change their mind and keep him on for another year. Variety.com reports if that were to happen NBC “would have to pay O’Brien a penalty estimated at more than $40 million”. The most logical choice for Late Night - as has been said before - would be Jimmy Fallon who’s proved popular on Saturday Night Live. Not forgetting Carson Daly (currently host of Last Call which airs after Late Night With Conan O’Brien on NBC) - he could also be an obvious choice.
Variety.com says “some of the names floated for O’Brien’s replacement have included Jon Stewart, Dane Cook and Australian television star Rove McManus”. My personal favourite would be Jon Stewart. He’s become hugely well received on The Daily Show (Comedy Central) and also proves he’s liked on a mainstream level - the Academy Awards hosting duties for example. The last piece of the jigsaw for the talk shows in 2009 is whether or not The Tonight Show will stay in Burbank or if it will move to New York City - currently home to Late Night With Conan O’Brien (and the Late Show on CBS, of course). The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was based in New York. I feel The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien should be based in New York and perhaps moving Late Night With ???? to Burbank.
Posted: Monday, 25th February 2008 at 11:45am by Paul
So, the Oscars were last night (in the early hours of this morning for us over in the UK), and Jon Stewart took up the hosting duties for the 2nd time after having hosted the show the year before last. The Daily Show host pulled things off without a hitch and Times Online describe his hosting as “delightful, tongue-in-cheek”. Jon’s known for his satirical and sometimes risque humour. Some of his best lines of the night include “Our next presenter is either a Hollywood movie star, or an auto dealership, ladies and gentlemen Harrison Ford”, “there was a small technical glitch, so we’re going to have to restart the show” and when he said “Whoever owns the Boeing 707 parked on La Brea Avenue, your landing lights are on” with John Travolta running up on stage - a reference to Travolta’s airplane. Read more on the Times Online website. Jon Stewart also paid tribute to the WGA writers strike, saying “these past 31/2 months have been very tough. The town was torn apart by a bitter writers’ strike. I’m happy to say that the fight is over. So tonight, welcome to the makeup sex”.
When you think Jon and the Oscars writing team only had two weeks to get the show worked out, they did a heck of a good job. Also, some people have been mentioned the ceremony was shorter than normal - which is always good on these usually long-drawn-out affairs. One of the other talked-about points of the show were Marketa Irglova’s acceptance speech, when she got her speech cut short by the orchestra, only for Jon Stewart to lead her back to the stage to finish what she was saying. Highlights of the Oscars ceremony will be on Sky One tonight at 8.30pm, Sky Two tomorrow at 11pm and Sky Three on Saturday (Freeview and Sky Digital) at 4.30pm. The Oscars are also being repeated in full on Sky Movies Drama this evening at 5.30pm.
Posted: Saturday, 23rd February 2008 at 4:16pm by Paul
Jon Stewart is getting ready to host his second Academy Awards ceremony tomorrow (Sunday 24th February). Stewart - who hosted the 78th ceremony back in 2006 - is returning to hosting duties for this year’s 80th Academy Awards. The Daily Show host will bring his usual satirical wit to the proceedings, and expect a few jokes about the WGA writers strike that ended recently.
Highlights of the show will be screened on Sky One for UK audiences on Monday at 8.30pm, and Sky One will also air live red carpet coverage on Sunday at 11.10pm. There are specials on BBC News 24 and the Academy Awards will be shown - in full - live on Sky Movies. The Academy Awards will be shown live on ABC in America. It was thought the ceremony wouldn’t go ahead initially - due to the writers strike - but when the deal came through, everything will now go ahead as planned.
Posted: Sunday, 10th February 2008 at 1:45pm by Paul
Conan O’Brien and Stephen Colbert dropped by to The Daily Show on Monday, to put an end to the “Who Made Mike Huckabee?” debate. Colbert visits first, then Conan comes in - with the Moment Of Zen at the end involving the showdown with Conan, Colbert and Jon. The whole thing was pretty hilarious - video clips are embedded below.
Posted: Tuesday, 15th January 2008 at 11:13am by Paul
So, what with the Golden Globes ceremony being cancelled and most top TV shows on hiatus, it’s clear to see the writers strike is still having a huge impact on US TV. Jon Stewart’s been having a look at the less-than-glitzy Golden Globes press conference, which replaced the ceremony. Also embedded below, is a recap of last week’s first shows of 2008.
Posted: Tuesday, 8th January 2008 at 9:25am by Paul
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report came back to the air with the first new show in about two months last night. On last night’s first Daily Show back, Jon Stewart said “From now on, until the end of the strike, we’ll be doing A Daily Show with Jon Stewart. But not The Daily Show”. Both shows returned without their writers.
The Associated Press reports “Though both Comedy Cental late-night series have always largely been scripted, that would now violate strike rules of the Writers Guild of America. Even Stewart and Colbert, as guild members, are apparently barred from writing anything”. You can see last night’s new episode of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart on More 4 in the UK tonight at 8.30pm. The Colbert Report doesn’t currently air on UK TV.
Posted: Monday, 7th January 2008 at 1:00pm by Paul
Programming reminder - Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will return with new episodes of their respective programmes tonight on Comedy Central in the US (The Daily Show With Jon Stewart’s US episode from tonight will air on More 4 in the UK on Tuesday at 8.30pm). As the writers strike continues, Stewart and Colbert (like the other chat show hosts - except Letterman) will be without their usual writing team. The Canadian Press reports “WGA members Stewart and Colbert are barred from writing anything”.
Both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report have been airing reruns since the strike began about eight weeks ago (the last new show aired at the beginning of November). A Comedy Central spokesman told The Canadian Press “Stephen and Jon are still figuring out what they’re going to do on Monday night’s show”. It will be interesting to see how both shows cope without the writers - most of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report rely heavily on scripted segments and news pieces. It is thought they will try to use more time with guest interviews instead, although The Canadian Press does say “performers who do not belong to the guild will be free to write material for themselves”.
Posted: Thursday, 3rd January 2008 at 9:45am by Paul
Last updated 16:05
The first new episode in about 2 months last night in the US - the Late Show is back. Reports of the show (I have not seen it yet) reveal Letterman came out onto the stage “through a chorus line of dancers holding signs that read, “Writers Guild of America on Strike”, and sporting a full beard he grew during his eight-week break”. Dave looks very different with a beard - as far as I can tell, Dave (and Conan too) has grown a beard as a sign of unity for the WGA strike.
Letterman joked about being glad to get out of rehab and “show or no show I really enjoy drinking in the morning”. Dave told everyone he’s the only show to be back with union-backed writers. Before the show titles, Hillary Clinton popped up to welcome us back to the Late Show. Donald Trump wasn’t on the first show back, as was previously thought - Robin Williams was instead. Watch Dave’s monologue here,check out the Top Ten list and see Bill Scheft’s message to the Late Show audience.
Jay Leno returned with new episodes of The Tonight Show last night - but without his writers. The Kansas City website (TV Barn) said “Leno’s monologue was remarkably ordinary” and that Leno “was trying to pretend like it was business as usual”. Late Night With Conan O’Brien was back - but without his writers. Conan - sporting a new beard - returned last night. The Kansas City website says “O’Brien is better positioned than Leno to stick out a long strike, thanks to stronger interviewing skills”. Craig Ferguson was also back with new episodes of the Late Late Show. Craig had his writing staff with him - as this was covered in the Letterman deal - and started off the first show back with “As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted”. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report remain off air, will be returning with new shows starting from the 7th January.
Posted: Friday, 21st December 2007 at 9:08am by Paul
It has been confirmed The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report will be both be returning to the air with new shows on Comedy Central from the 7th January. The Los Angeles Times says “After a previously scheduled two-week hiatus, “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” will resume production Jan. 7, Comedy Central said in a statement released late Thursday afternoon” but “Stewart and Colbert said they wished they could return to work with their writers”. I also noticed yesterday that More 4 in the UK have started airing The Daily Show again - last night’s rerun on there featured the Barack Obama interview.
The article on the Los Angeles Times website also states Letterman’s production company (Worldwide Pants Inc) will be “meeting with Writers Guild of America officials today in an effort to make an interim deal that would allow the shows to go back on the air with their writing staffs”. The Associated Press says “Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel have all said they would resume their programs on Jan. 2 without their writing staffs” and “Letterman is also aiming for a Jan. 2 return”. If the deal with Worldwide Pants goes through, this would also mean the return of the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson.
Posted: Wednesday, 19th December 2007 at 12:24pm by Paul
The Broadcasting & Cable website is now reporting there’s a likely return date for the Late Show With David Letterman. The writers strike continues, but most of the late night US chat shows are to return to the air whilst it rolls on. We reported yesterday that Leno and Conan were planning on coming back with new shows on NBC starting from the 2nd January (without writers), and that Letterman would be back as well, but a date was not known for certain. Now it seems Letterman will be returning with new episodes on the 2nd January as well (but he’s hoping to have his writers back as well). In addition to this, the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson is expected to return on the same night.
No news has been revealed about when to expect new episodes of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, but it’s thought they won’t return until the writers strike is over (Multichannel News website article here). I hope The Tony Mendez Show returns to CBS.com when the Late Show comes back in January - I would assume it will return at the same time (although Tony may be on the picket lines, so perhaps not). The Broadcasting & Cable website says “David Letterman’s production company, Worldwide Pants, targeted Jan. 2 for the return of its two late-night shows, The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. But while late-night hosts Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel plan to resurface the same night, sans writers, Letterman’s shows plan to return with their writing staffs intact”. Digital Spy also has some news on “reaching agreements with individual producers”.
The return of the Late Show is not a moment too soon - here’s a message from Late Show Videotape Operator Tom Catusi (from the Late Show Writers On Strike YouTube channel) - it looks like it’s been snowing in New York;
Posted: Thursday, 20th September 2007 at 8:25pm by Paul
Jon Stewart will be hosting the 80th Annual Academy Awards on the 24th February 2008. This will be the second time Jon has hosted the event - he hosted the 78th Oscars ceremony. Jon has been quoted as saying “I’m thrilled to be asked to host the Academy Awards for the second time because, as they say, the third time’s a charm”. Read more on the official Oscars website here.
Posted: Monday, 17th September 2007 at 4:11pm by James
Two shows we cover here went home with awards last night. The award for ‘Variety, Music or Comedy Series’ went to the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and ‘Writing, Variety, Music or Comedy Program’ went to Late Night with Conan O’Brien (AP).
Apparantly one of the biggest laughs of the night occured when Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert announced Ricky Gervais had won an Emmy for Extras. Gervais couldn’t be there, so Stewart explained they were going to give the award to Steve Carrell (The ‘US’ Office) who joined them on stage for a group hug.
Jay Leno has been writing for the Sunday Times (or Times of London, as they say) driving supplement, now “In Gear”, for a few years, either as a guest or filling in for Clarkson. Leno is back again this week with a piece on The Beckhams in LA; Life in Beckham Hills.
There seems to be some confusion over an interview Conan O’Brien gave to Entertainment Weekly. They report that Conan deadpanned;
“I cleared my talk show schedule for a year at great financial cost to myself, got an apartment right outside the Fox lot, and told them I was ready to report to work. All I heard back was that they were having trouble finding me a parking space, and then they stopped returning my calls altogether. I am stunned and disappointed…. Truth be told, I worry that the Simpsons-writing portion of my brain has been destroyed after 14 years of talking to Lindsay Lohan and that guy from One Tree Hill, so maybe it’s all for the best.”
Some took this to mean Conan was ditched or snubbed, others (mostly bloggers) that Conan had joked about being left off the team.
Finally, there’s news that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will make appearances in the upcoming season of The Simpsons.
Late Show UK is a blog based around US and UK talk shows. Since July 2005 we have covered the Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Late Night With Conan O'Brien - and more recently The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, Friday Night With Jonathan Ross and Saturday Night Live. We sometimes include stories for other shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live.
