Late Show UK

I’m not 100% sure on how long this service has been available for, but you can now watch full episodes of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report on the official TheDailyShow.com and ComedyCentral.com websites. It’s really easy to use and has limited advertisements (oh, and it works in the UK too!) - check it out.

Watch full episodes of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart at TheDailyShow.com
Watch full episodes of The Colbert Report at ComedyCentral.com
Late Show UK - Watch Online section

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama will be making another visit to The Daily Show on Monday. He appeared via satellite on The Colbert Report on Thursday last week - Hillary Clinton and John Edwards also made appearances on The Colbert Report on Thursday. Barack Obama’s appearance on The Daily Show will air on More 4 this Tuesday at 8.30pm.

The Daily Show guest listings (US airdates)

Demi Moore, Kate Bosworth and Brian Williams will be appearing on the Late Show on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. Brit pop star (of X Factor fame) Leona Lewis will be on The Tonight Show this Monday (24th March). The Leona Lewis episode will be going out on CNBC on the 27th March at 10pm and on the 29th March at 8pm. Conan O’Brien will be on The Tonight Show this Thursday (27th March). Late Night With Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report are on reruns next week. Donald Sutherland, Trevor Eve, Natasha Kaplinsky and The Kooks will be on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross this Friday. Don’t forget to check out the Upcoming Shows box in the sidebar for the next shows to air on UK TV.

The Associated Press is reporting the ratings for all the late night chat shows stayed very much the same throughout the writers strike. The AP says people “made little difference in their viewing habits” despite all the shows (except Letterman and Craig Ferguson) not having their writing teams onboard. The Associated Press report The Daily Show With Jon Stewart kept steady ratings as “the 1.6 million viewers he averaged during January was the same as he had last year”, and The Colbert Report’s “1.2 million last month was actually up 6 percent from the 2007 average”. Jay Leno “averaged 5.17 million viewers since his return” and Letterman “increased from 3.8 million pre-strike to 4.05 million after he went back on the air after the new year”. Conan O’Brien’s ratings remained largely unchanged averaging “just over 2 million people nightly” last month. The ratings data came from Nielsen Media Research. The strike ended yesterday, and all writers are now back at work, and “A Daily Show With Jon Stewart” changed it’s name back to “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” to signify the return of the writing staff.

The Associated Press - “Strike Barely Hits Late-Night Ratings”

After 14 weeks, the Writers Guild of America strike is now over. WGA members voted for a deal with the AMPTP and it’s reported the deal was approved by 92.5% of those members. Writers have been on strike in the US since early November 2007, following a dispute over the amount of money they get for online and DVD sales of their work. The new deal addresses those issues, and all writers return to work this week. The US TV industry has been cripplied by the strike, meaning such networks as Fox needing to bring in American Idol and other reality shows & unscripted programming to fill the gaps left behind by scripted comedy and drama that couldn’t be produced. The movie industry hasn’t been affected as much as TV, as films are made over a much longer timespan than TV series.

The BBC News website reports “the strike is said to have cost Los Angeles’ film and TV industry around $733m (£374m), with the wider economy losing around $1.3bn (£663m)” and that we can expect new programmes in “about two months”. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Late Night With Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report all have their writing teams back and new shows are already being made. The Late Show With David Letterman and the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson have had their writing team since January, when David Letterman’s production company Worldwide Pants Inc agreed an interim deal.

The Oscars (which are being hosted by The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart this year) can now go ahead as planned, with writers for the ceremony needing to produce immense numbers of scripts in a short timespan before the show airs on the 24th February. Speaking to the BBC, the boss of CBS Les Moonves said “At the end of the day, everybody won”. Media website Digital Spy report “The result - with nearly 3,500 for and 283 against the agreement - was announced yesterday evening Pacific Time, during the early hours of today GMT”.

BBC News - “Hollywood writers to end strike”
Digital Spy - “US writers’ strike officially ends”
BBC News - “Writers prepare to return to work”

So, the writers strike should be over this week if the deal goes through (Jon reminds us it’s only “tentative”) - but is this the big news Jon Stewart has for us, or is there something else on his mind, and what is President Bush talking about?

^ Videos are from TheDailyShow.com

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.

^ Videos are from TheDailyShow.com

The US writers strike appears to be coming to an end. The Writers Guild of America says they have reached a “tentative deal” and Reuters report “members will meet in New York and Los Angeles later on Saturday to discuss specific terms, the ratification process and ending the strike, the union added”. Media news website Digital Spy add “America’s television production industry could be back in business as early as Monday” and that “WGA East members will gather at 2pm Eastern time today in New York to discuss the agreement; the WGA West meeting is scheduled for 7pm Pacific in Los Angeles”.

This deal will end the strike, meaning all shows will get their writing team back. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Late Night With Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report have all been making shows without their original writers when they returned to the air in January. David Letterman’s production company Worldwide Pants Inc reached an interim deal previously, meaning the Late Show With David Letterman and the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson have both had its writing team back since the show returned in January. The deal that’s been reached will now mean the Oscars awards ceremony can now go ahead as planned. Update: You can read the WGA statement here - which also gives full details of the terms & conditions of this new deal.

Reuters - “Striking writers reach tentative deal with studios”
Digital Spy - “WGA: “We have a tentative deal”"
Telegraph - “Oscars saved as Hollywood writers’ strike ends”
The Movie Blog - “The WGA Strike is Over”

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.

^ Videos are from TheDailyShow.com

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.

^ Videos are from TheDailyShow.com

The Associated Press - “Viewers Await Return of Stewart, Colbert”

Updated 14th January 2008.

Late Show With David Letterman - 16th January - Diva TV (from 2nd January, CBS)
The Tonight Show With Jay Leno - 4th January - CNBC Europe (from 2nd January, NBC)
Late Night With Conan O’Brien - Will not air on CNBC* - CNBC Europe (from 2nd January, NBC)
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart - 8th January - More 4 (from 7th January, Comedy Central)

* The first Late Night With Conan O’Brien since the writers strike began (originally shown on NBC on the 2nd January) will not be shown on CNBC Europe, because they only air two shows a week (Saturdays and Sundays) - and this one hasn’t been chosen as a ‘pick of the week’ show. Don’t forget, our petition is still running at www.lateshowuk.com/petition if you want to add your name to the signatures.

Late Show UK - Where To Watch

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”.

The Canadian Press - “Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert resume Comedy Central talk shows Monday”

More 4 listings at Channel4.com