- Late-night talk shows are back after a five-month hiatus due to the writers' strike.
- The hosts of the four major talk shows all tried to recap the biggest news from the summer.
- Jimmy Fallon didn't address allegations about a toxic workplace at "The Tonight Show."
Late night is finally back.
In May, the five major late-night talk shows, hosted by Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver, were among several productions that shut down after the Writers Guild of America called for a strike.
On Monday, Fallon, Colbert, Kimmel, and Meyers all returned to the airwaves after a deal was struck between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
Kimmel and Colbert started their shows with humorous cold opens to celebrate their respective returns.
On "The Late Show," Colbert, donning a fake beard and captain's hat, pretended he was out to sea for most of the summer before being told by a dolphin that the strike was over and he needed to get back to work.
On "Jimmy Kimmel Live," the eponymous comedian roped in his guest for the night, Arnold Schwarzenegger, as his therapist in order to give him the courage to return after so long.
The actor from "The Terminator," of course, recited his famous lines: "I'll be back" and "Get to the chopper."
While all the hosts took time in their monologues to thank and praise their writing staff and crew, another common theme was their attempts to cover all the biggest news from the summer.
Among the topics covered were the viral story about a Delta plane that returned to its original airport due to a diarrhea incident, the dating rumors surrounding Taylor Swift and the Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, and the headline-making pop-culture moment that was Barbenheimer.
"Mere rumors that Tay-Tay might be at last night's game-game sent ticket prices surging more than 40%. Used to be you couldn't afford to watch Taylor Swift. Now you can't afford to watch Taylor Swift watch something," cracked Colbert, referring to Swift's appearance at Sunday's Chiefs game against the New York Jets.
Colbert, Kimmel, and Meyers spent the majority of their recaps on political news, particularly former President Donald Trump's numerous indictments over the summer, his arrest in August, and quips about the trials he is facing.
Kimmel joked in his monologue: "Donald Trump got arrested four times while we were on strike. Once for the classified documents, once for interfering with the election, once for January 6th, and once for shooting Tupac, allegedly."
Fallon's return to screens was notable for the omission of any mention of toxic-workplace allegations that plagued "The Tonight Show" last month.
In a Rolling Stone investigation published in September, two current and 14 former staff members made claims of a toxic work environment over the years, saying that bosses, including Fallon, had belittled and intimidated staff to the point of tears.
In a statement to Insider, a spokesperson for NBC said at the time: "We are incredibly proud of 'The Tonight Show,' and providing a respectful working environment is a top priority. As in any workplace, we have had employees raise issues; those have been investigated and action has been taken where appropriate. As is always the case, we encourage employees who feel they have experienced or observed behavior inconsistent with our policies to report their concerns so that we may address them accordingly."
Rolling Stone reported that Fallon apologized to staff via a Zoom meeting the evening that the report was published.
HBO's John Oliver was the only late-night host to return to his show on Sunday rather than Monday.
In his opening monologue on "Last Week Tonight," Oliver criticized studio executives for allowing the writers' strike to go on for so long.
"And while I'm happy that they eventually got a fair deal and immensely proud of what our union accomplished, I'm also furious that it took the studios 148 days to achieve a deal that they could have offered on day fucking one," Oliver said, as reported by the Guardian.
"But hopefully this might encourage others, from auto workers to Starbucks baristas to healthcare providers, whether they are in unions or would like to be, to find power in each other," he added.
