Fallon – NBCUniversal Media; Kimmel – ABC; Meyers – NBC/Lloyd Bishop; Colbert – Mary Ellen Matthews/CBS; Oliver – NBCUniversal Media
The so-called “Strike Force Five” — Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, John Oliver and Stephen Colbert — are still united now that the writers strike that brought them together has ended.
The group announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will all be returning Monday, October 2; Oliver’s HBO series Last Week Tonight will return Sunday, October 1.
As reported, the Strike Force Five podcast was meant to support the hosts’ staffs, who were out of work since the strike began in May.
In a group posting, they noted, “Of course in a greater sense, The Strike Force Five will never end, because…Strike Force Five is an idea. And idea that five men can talk on top of each other for 12 episodes and maybe somebody would listen.”
The message continued, “As we say goodbye, we would like to thank all those somebodies. Truly, you were the heroes. We were mostly the heroes, but you were in there, too.”
The hosts thanked their supporters and had an apology for Conan O’Brien, “who agreed to do the pod, but Stephen forgot to send him any possible dates, and then the strike ended.”
They concluded by saying, “Goodbye for now, and hello for later, because we still have a few more episodes, unless Ryan Reynolds cuts off the cash.”
Reynolds was a supporter of the endeavor; his Aviation American Gin brand and Mint Mobile acted as sponsors.
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