Those of us who have been missing our pre-bedtime comedy wind-down can get partially back on track tonight, as all the big network late-night shows will make their return to the wee screen for the first time since the beginning of the writers’ strike. Only David Letterman and Craig Ferguson will have their writers, as Letterman’s independent production company Worldwide Pants (which owns Ferguson’s show too) made their own special deal with the scribes, something the other network-owned shows couldn’t figure out, I guess. Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, and Jimmy Kimmel will be on their own; well, I mean that figuratively, as Leno will be accompanied by Mike Huckabee tonight, who can hopefully continue to expand on his latest comedy gold-mine, a hilarious set piece about how homosexuality is a pretty bad sin but not as bad as necrophilia. Too much! If you prefer Letterman (if!), you’ll have to suffer through his first guest, Robin Williams. The other network shows may not have writers (or big-name guests), but they may be accompanied by protests, as the WGA has announced it will picket all three shows, as well as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, who return on Monday. Whether any of this is enough to draw back discouraged viewers from other activities remains to be seen.
