US talk shows back on the air

Late night talk shows have returned to ABC, CBS and NBC eight weeks after going on hiatus due to the Writers Guild of America strike.

Only two - David Letterman's Late Show and Craig Ferguson's Late, Late Show, both on CBS - have returned with their respective writing teams and the blessing of the WGA. Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company reached an agreement with the guild last week. The other shows have returned to the air without writers but with picket lines outside their taping locations.

Acknowledging that he had effectively crossed a picket line to return to the air, NBC Tonight Show host Jay Leno said: "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 members, who were laid off, back to work. We fully support our writers and I think they understand my decision."

He introduced the show with an ad-libbed aside: "A Jew, a Christian and a Muslim walk into a bar. The Jew says to the Muslim... see, I have no idea what they say, because there’s a writers' strike."

Later in the show, he joked: "There are more people picketing NBC than watching NBC."

Conan O'Brien, the host of NBC's Late Night and a former writer on Saturday Night Live, said at the top of his show: "We’re back now but sadly, we do not have our writers with us,” he told his audience. “I want to make this clear: I support their cause. These are very talented, very creative people who work extremely hard, and I believe what they’re asking for is fair."

O'Brien and Letterman, who was escorted on stage by dancers holding WGA strike placards, have both grown beards in support of the writers.