Late-night hosts return to deliver pro-strike message along with jokes

[Omaha Steve]

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5haSMg7qCSuhFKqZNJJLczKCO4NbQ

NEW YORK - Earlier this week, David Letterman asked a timely question: How many striking writers could fit into a Jamba Juice store across the street from his studio?

The answer was 23 picketers, complete with their Writers Guild of America signs. There was also room for Spider-man, the prophet Moses and someone in a bear suit.

Since late-night TV roared back to life last week, its returning hosts have done lots to keep the writers strike in front of the audience. And not just out of loyalty to the writers - the strike, now more than two months old with no end in sight, is a gold mine for humour.

After all, late night thrives on taking potshots at the ruling class. And this particular dispute pits guild writers against an aristocracy of networks and studios owned by media behemoths like Viacom, Disney, CBS and General Electric (parent company of NBC Universal).

In that spirit, "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno shared a video clip of the palatial estate he jokingly identified as the home of his boss, NBC Universal head Jeff Zucker. Then the next clip was supposed to illustrate where the TV writers live: a third-world shantytown whose hovels bore the names of prime-time series like "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives." (OK, so the bit wasn't all that funny - it was Leno.)

But what are the two sides feuding over, anyway?

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