Jimmy Kimmel opened on his therapist’s couch — the therapist being Arnold Schwarzenegger, who told him, “You’ll be back,” and then, after Kimmel asked when, followed it up with, “Now.”
The hosts recapped some of the top stories they’d missed over the past five months, with Seth Meyers drawing applause with a rapid-speed monologue summarizing a wacky list of political developments. Colbert ran through top stories beginning with King Charles’s coronation in May (at 74, he said, Charles “finally got his first job”) and ending with New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez’s indictment (“It’s always a nice feeling when you slip your hand into the pocket of a coat you haven’t worn in a while and you find half a million dollar in bribes — ooh, and a Jolly Rancher.”).
“It feels good to be back,” Colbert said.
The Writers Guild of America and Hollywood studios reached a tentative deal just more than a week ago, and writers were allowed to return to work on Wednesday. (Hollywood actors remain on strike.) “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” returned Sunday, while “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers” returned Monday.
- “We’ve been gone so long, ‘The Bachelor’ is now a grandfather,” Kimmel quipped.
- “I am so happy to be back in a room with my writers, everybody,” Meyers said. “I missed my writers so much. I was so happy, so happy, to see them this morning. I will admit, by lunch I was a little over it.”
- “Obviously it would be stupid to try to recap everything that’s happened over the last five months — so here we go,” said Colbert.
- “One of our writers got this message from his mother this morning at 6:11 a.m. She wrote, “Please don’t make tonight’s monologue all about Trump.” Well, sorry, Josh’s mom, that is a no-can-do. I am backed up like you would not believe,” Kimmel said.
- “We looked at the calendar today and — check my math on this — I believe we have been off the air for 154 indictments,” Colbert said.
The hosts delivered sincere addresses to their writers, crews and audiences, thanking the writers and union leaders. Oliver criticized the Hollywood studios, saying he was “furious” it took them 148 days to offer a fair deal, and Meyers praised union negotiators for their work during the strike.
- “This is a big win for the little guy,” Kimmel said, continuing, “and a big win for the chubby guy and the hairy dude and the weird girl who doesn’t make eye contact.
- “I also want to thank our crew,” Meyers said, “for their patience while we worked through this very necessary labor stoppage.”
- “Now the writers strike is over, with a new contract that includes protections against AI, cost-of-living increases, better pay for streaming,” Colbert said to cheers.
- “I just realized how grateful I am for all of this, and for this show,” Fallon said. “I really love this job.”
Fallon, Kimmel, Colbert, Meyers and Oliver started a podcast during the work stoppage called “Strike Force Five,” whose proceeds have gone to their employees. They’ve released 10 episodes, and said in Tuesday’s episode that a few more would come before the podcast ended.
“If any of us sound a little excited right now, it’s because … this five-month strike is about to come to an end,” Oliver said in the latest episode as his co-hosts cheered, “which is clearly fantastic news for our shows, fantastic news for everyone who works in TV and films and, frankly, fatal news for this podcast.”
Meyers told his audience Monday the five talked frequently during the strike. “Being on the same page with them made a very hard period a lot easier to deal with,” he said.
“I know them and I’m friendly with them,” Fallon said during his monologue, “but, you know, I would say after this, I’m friends with them.”