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Let’s call it “silence of the hams.”
(OK, perhaps I could use a joke writer.)
Late-night comedy hosts were absent from their posts Tuesday night, as most shows aired reruns due to the a writers strike over what they say are unfair compensation practices. And their absence was felt in the political world Wednesday morning, as well. Missing from news shows have been freshly viral clips of cutting political commentary from late-night hosts, which are commonly used to inject a little levity into news programming. It’s a reminder of how politics and entertainment have become intertwined and, further, a reminder of the comedy writer’s role in shaping American political discourse.
The late-night talk show has become an indelible part of American politics. Then-President Barack Obama slow jamming the news on NBC's “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” demonstrated how politicians can use these shows to stretch their legs a bit and — with the help of writers — show their comedic or personal side. And ever since Donald Trump’s presidency, late-night talk shows have only elevated in stature. The immense popularity of politically-oriented comedians in that time, such as Stephen Colbert and John Oliver, and the continued relevance of the show that made them popular — Comedy Central's “The Daily Show” — further prove that Americans have largely turned to comedians, and the writers who support their work, to make sense of the absurdity Trump and his followers introduced to our political discourse.
There’s been a lot of talk about the impact the labor dispute may have on the fall television schedule and whether shows slated to air later this year will need to be pushed back.
But, because they’re produced daily and sometimes weekly, late-night talk shows are, perhaps, the most noticeable casualty of the ongoing fight. And this loss, in particular, is going to have a downstream impact on other industries — like news.
Note: Comcast, the corporation that owns MSNBC's parent company NBCUniversal, is one of the entertainment companies represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which is bargaining on behalf of the companies involved. Some editorial employees of the NBCUniversal News Group are represented by the Writers Guild of America, the union behind the strike.