Robin Williams and U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will be two of the faces welcoming viewers back to late-night TV on Wednesday, the day several U.S. evening talk shows return to original programming amid the ongoing screenwriters strike.
Producers of the Late Show with David Letterman announced Monday that comedian and actor Williams will appear on its Jan. 2 program. Previously announced guests also set to appear this week include Donald Trump and country rocker Shooter Jennings.
Host Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, and the Writers Guild of America announced Friday they had come to an agreement for the show's writers to return to work, even while their colleagues continue their labour action against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
The agreement also extends to the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, also produced by Worldwide Pants.
Leno welcomes politician; other shows mum
Producers of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno announced political hopeful Huckabee as a guest for its Jan. 2 comeback edition.
However, other late-night shows have largely stayed mum about their upcoming guests and formats, amid WGA plans to erect picket lines outside the tapings.
"Our strike pressure will be intense and essential in directing political and [Screen Actors Guild] member guests to Letterman and Ferguson rather than to struck talk shows," the WGA said.
Timely late-night programming, with hosts that often base their quips on the day's most interesting headlines, was the first casualty of the strike, which began Nov. 5.
However, since most announced their upcoming returns, industry watchers have speculated that shows like Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel Live! might face difficulty booking celebrity guests willing to cross WGA picket lines just to make a TV appearance.
Meanwhile, the Screen Actors Guild - whose members have been supportive of their writing colleagues since the strike began - also issued a statement hailing Worldwide Pants for its individual deal with the writers and suggesting that its membership would be picking Letterman over Leno.
"Screen Actors Guild members will be happy to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman and Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson with union writers at work and without crossing WGA picket lines," SAG president Alan Rosenberg said in a statement.
Late-night news satires The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report are also set to return to original programming on Jan. 7.
With files from the Associated Press