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On January 7th, 2008, Stephen Colbert returns to the ert…I mean, the air! Khee! *does happy dance*

No, the writer’s strike hasn’t ended. It’s still raging on. And of course now WGA is all pissed off because Colbert and Jon Stewart are resuming their shows. WGA had this to say on Thursday…

“Comedy Central forcing Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert back on the air will not give the viewers the quality shows they’ve come to expect,” the WGA statement read. “The only way to get the writing staffs back on the job is for the AMPTP companies to come back to the table prepared to negotiate a fair deal with the Writers Guild.”

Comedy Central “forced” them to come back? Makes it sound like the meeting went something like this…

I suppose the WGA is trying not to attack Colbert and Stewart directly, instead laying  the blame at Comedy Central, but I can’t help but be a little offended by the remark. Almost like WGA is saying that Colbert and Stewart aren’t quality enough on their own to pull off something for their programs. Stewart’s background is stand up comedy. Colbert honed his skills in improv. I have no doubt that both of them can whip something together for a 30 minute program. Even if they can’t write their own material beforehand, they can certainly ad-lib.

Personally, I’m looking forward to Stephen’s return and I will get my ol’ VCR fired up again to resume taping episodes. Given his character’s penchant for stirring things up a little bit, I’m sure Stephen’s return is not going to be subdued.

Of course, I don’t envy the position he’s in. He’s a writer on his own show, and he’s union, but he’s also an executive producer and probably took into consideration the fact that a lot of other people have been out of work since this thing started seven weeks ago. I think some people forget that there’s production people, video editors, sound people, ect. who have been off the job since the beginning of November.

I should make clear that I’m not saying I’m not sympathetic to the writers in their cause. Certainly, they should be properly compensated for their works no matter what format it appears in (DVD, internet download, ect). I’m not at all saying that I support the producers/studios at all in their refusal to apparently negotiate a fair deal.

What I am saying however, is the way this is all being handled SUCKS. Somebody, somewhere is being a colossal pain in the ass. Now whether it’s the WGA or the studios, I don’t know. But I can’t believe that everything has ground to a halt over this compensation issue.

So, as a writer, though I’m sympathetic to the writer’s cause, I support and applaud Mr. Colbert for his show’s return. And like a baby eaglet watching the mother eagle soar over her young, I’ll be watching.

Oh, and before I forget, congratulations Stephen on being named the AP’s Celebrity of the Year for 2007!!