Carson offers history lesson as talk shows return

By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Late-night TV history will repeat itself January 2 when, two months into the Hollywood writers strike, NBC's "The Tonight Show" will return to the air without its scribes.

It was May 11, 1988. Two months after the beginning of the last writers strike, "The Tonight Show" returned sans writers. It started off just like any other "Tonight Show" hosted by Johnny Carson, with "Heeeeeere's Johnny!" But then, in the midst of a louder and longer than usual standing ovation, an audience member shouted, "Welcome back, Johnny."

"The public was glad he was back, the staff was glad, everybody was happy to get paychecks again," said Carson's nephew Jeff Sotzing, president of Carson Entertainment, who was an associate producer on "Tonight Show" in 1988. "Nobody wanted to cross the picket line, but when they finally did, it was a huge relief."

Carson, who owned the "The Tonight Show," had been paying his nonwriting staff out of his pocket, something his successors, led by David Letterman, have replicated during the current strike.

Also taking a cue from his idol, Letterman, who owns CBS' "Late Show" and "Late Late Show," has been trying to negotiate an interim deal with the Writers Guild of America that would allow the two shows to return with writers January 2.

Carson had been pursuing such a contract in May 1988. According to news reports from that time, frustrated by the slow progress in the negotiations, he decided to return May 11 without writers. A couple of weeks later, his scribes followed after the WGA signed off on a deal. Now, things are not moving fast on a contract between Letterman's Worldwide Pants and the WGA either.

There were two guests on Carson's first night back, a copy of which is available at the Paley Center for Media: San Diego Wild Animal Park's curator of birds William Toone, who talked about the birth of the first baby condor in captivity, and actor-comedian Joe Piscopo, there to promote his movie "Dead Heat." The "Tonight Show" band also saluted composer Irving Berlin for his 100th birthday with a medley of his tunes.

Talent booking for the late shows is getting a lot of attention these days, with speculation that many actors won't cross a picket line, making non-Hollywood types like Jack Hanna and medical experts preferred guests.

So far, no main guests for NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," which are resuming production without writers January 2, have been firmed up. Donald Trump had been booked to appear on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" on January 2, but the show's return that day is contingent on the interim deal.

While the scrutiny is high now, things were different in 1988, said veteran publicist and former Hollywood Reporter writer Charlie Barrett, who served as "Tonight Show" spokesman in the 1980s.

"There was never the picketing you have now," he said. "The strike is getting a tremendous amount of attention -- all the national and major cable networks are covering it. We never saw this kind of attention given to a writers strike that we see today."

Carson opened the May 11 show like any other, with a prepared monologue. Unlike any other night, he had written it by himself, something he was allowed to do as a non-WGA member.

That can't happen on any late-night show that returns without writers next week. As Letterman was in 1988, all current late-night hosts except Carson Daly are WGA members and thus banned from writing any bits for the show, including monologues. (On his first night back, Carson also did a skit, another no-no for today's hosts.)

No matter whether they do an opening segment, the writerless late-night hosts are certain to attract scrutiny in their return about anything they say.

Daytime talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres, also a WGA member, came under attack from the guild for doing a monologue, qualified by the guild as "struck work." (DeGeneres vigorously disputed the allegation, claiming she ad-libbed her monologues.)