"Last Call with Carson Daly" is first latenighter to go back

This week, NBC's "Last Call with Carson Daly" has become the first major network latenight skein to return to production since the strike began on Nov. 5.

(My mistake below: Last night's seg was a repeat from September. New episodes set to air next week.)

Without passing judgment on the decision made by Daly and others behind "Last Call," you can't help but note the irony that Daly's guest in his second seg back tonight (airing 1:35 a.m. Wednesday) is Frank Caliendo, who just launched his own latenight sketch show on TBS, "Frank TV." And the now-striking showrunner of "Frank TV" is, as most readers of this blog probably know, is John Bowman, head of WGA West's negotiating committee.

Naturally, the WGA is taking a dim view of the decision to hit the reboot on "Last Call" (a bit of strike news that we should duly note was first reported in Tuesday's edition of THR). Sources close to the show said the decision was motivated in part by Daly's concern for his production staff.

“We’re disappointed at Carson Daly’s decision to return to work," WGA said in a statement issued late Tuesday. "Mr. Daly is not a writer and not a member of the WGA, unlike other late-night hosts Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Craig Ferguson, and Jimmy Kimmel, who have all resisted network pressure and honored our writers’ picket lines. We’re especially appalled at Mr. Daly’s call for non-Guild writers to provide him with jokes. We hope he’ll change his mind and follow the lead of the other late-night hosts."

An NBC rep for the show said the Peacock was declining "out of respect for the current agreement between the AMPTP and the WGA for a press blackout period" while the sides are at the negotiating table.

--Cynthia Littleton

Comments

[Roy]

What do you get when you cross a football halftime impressionist not ready for SNL with a talk show host from the same primordial ooze as Nina Blackwood, Kennedy and Lauren Conrad?

[cathy]

in defense of frank caliendo, the episode of carson daly that ran last night was a rerun from september.

[Matt in Boston]

My second thought on reading this was profound disappointment that an entertainer would cross a picket line and severely hamper the progress being made by the completely justified Writer's Guild Union in their attempt for more equitable working conditions.

My first thought was: Carson Daly is still on the air?

Cross-posted at: http://mattomalley.blogspot.com

[charlie perez]

No one should cross the pickit line, no one, when are the other local unions going to get involved? Carson Daly you are such a SCAB.

[Carmen]

Open letter to the writers on strike:
Frankly, I know little to nothing of your strike. What I DO know is that there are far more important issues you could be spending your efforts on. While I hate wet blankets and doom-and-gloomers as much as the next guy, here's a few newsflashes for ya':

- The icecaps are melting
- Dozens of species are becoming extinct each and every day on our planet as humans encroach on their habitat
- People are starving to death every day while others have so much they don't even know what to do with the $ anymore but buy more watches, cars, and housing than anyone could reasonably need in a lifetime
- Katrina victims are still living in trailers
- The Pacific Northwest is in a state of emergency due to floods, where many people who didn't have much to begin with have lost everything - cattle have died in the 1000's!
- Obesity, illiteracy, heart disease, cancer, and domestic violence is at an all-time high, and there's still no cure for AIDS

And that's just the start of it. So, not that anyone would take a minute out of their too-proud striking to read this, but is what you're doing really THAT important? I'm just sayin'... But then again, we live in a country where Britney Spears is headline news, and our troops in Iraq, well, you'll have to SEARCH for information about then. So, while you're on strike, I'll continue doing what I was already doing - catching up on the thousands of in-print books out there, spending time with friends, knitting, and volunteering my skills as a nurse to the local shelter.
Happy friggin' New Year!