Conan, Leno Returning To The Air Jan. 2

Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien will be back on the air, without monologue writers, two months after the Writer’s Strike left late night TV viewers without new punchlines. The AP reports that NBC will begin airing fresh episodes of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night With Conan O’Brien on Jan. 2.

This follows a recent move by O’Brien who promised to pay non-striking show staffers out of his own pocket.

"Both Jay and Conan have supported their writers during the first two months of this WGA (Writers Guild of America) strike and will continue to support them," Rick Ludwin, NBC’s executive vice president of late night and primetime told the AP. "However, there are hundreds of people who will be able to return to work as a result of Jay's and Conan's decision."

Viewers might also be able to look forward to new episodes of The Late Show with David Letterman. The AP reports that the Writer’s Guild is negotiating a deal with Letterman’s production company WorldWide Pants.

Letterman’s company might reach a deal with the writer’s, so don't expect a big format change there. But Leno and especially Conan use a lot of scripted material on their shows. There are no reports on any format changes for these two shows yet, but I suspect viewers will see some changes when they return in January. NBC might not be helping the writers much with this move, but at least non-striking staffers will be able to earn a paycheck again.