'Let My Writers Go,' Sings A Heartsick Stephen Colbert

Mark — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:22:48 EST

Though the strategy of occasionally pointing to the joke-void on one's blank TelePrompTer screen is certainly a valid one for calling attention to the struggle of one's striking writers, sometimes a more dramatic display is necessary, lest even the most loyal TV audience begin to tune out the oft-intoned message of solidarity.

On Tuesday's Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert offered what was perhaps the most moving pro-WGA moment we've seen in weeks, leading Malcolm Gladwell and the Harlem Gospel Choir in a lively rendition of the spiritual "Go Down Moses" as images of his beloved, absent colleagues scrolled across the screen; cue up the above clip and prepare to be stirred in a way you haven't been since Conan O'Brien gave us that first, utterly thrilling glimpse of his strike beard.

Let My People Go [Colbert Nation]
Previously: Stewart, Colbert Go Back To Work Unibrowed, Biblically Bearded, And Without Writers [Defamer]

Stewart, Colbert Going Back To Work

Mark — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:32:10 EST

With Conan, Jay, Jimmy, and the rest of the late night gang announcing they're reluctantly headed to back to work without their striking writers, it seemed inevitable that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert wouldn't be far behind. They've released this joint statement on their January 7th return: "We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence." A more disappointed than ambivalent WGA has already issued a reminder that writerless versions of the shows aren't going to fill the Colbert and Stewart-shaped holes in our lives: "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 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." [AP, WGA.org]

Gawker: defamer, colbert report

'Let My Writers Go,' Sings A Heartsick Stephen Colbert

Stewart, Colbert Going Back To Work