The Writers Guild of America, the union representing 11,500 TV and film writers, went on strike Tuesday, and the late-night comedy shows went dark Tuesday night, in the first manifestation of what may end up being a long disruption for scripted TV. There are no talks scheduled between the WGA and the major studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The last Hollywood writers strike, in 2007 and 2008, lasted 100 days.
The late-night TV shows also stopped airing new episodes during the strike 15 years ago, at least for a while. Eventually, they came back on the air and tried to muddle through without scripts. Jay Leno, who hosted NBC's Tonight Show at the time, "angered WGA leadership when he began writing his own monologues," The Associated Press reports. For everyone else, the result was bizarre TV, as The Washington Post recaps.
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