RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
And in his first post-strike appearance, David Letterman had a new look: a bushy gray beard, so grizzly it inspired guest comedian Robin Williams to compare him to a Civil War reenactor. Jay Leno had no Hollywood personalities to kid around with.
To find out how the two kings of late night faired in their first show since the strike, we turn to TV critic Lynette Rice. She's with the Entertainment Weekly, based here in Los Angeles.
Good morning.
Ms. LYNETTE RICE (TV Critic, Entertainment Weekly): Good morning.
MONTAGNE: Obviously, you're a critic. Tell us how they fared?
Ms. RICE: Well, it's funny because we all know now that Letterman had his writers with him and Leno did not. And yet, it almost seemed like Leno was the one with the writers and Letterman was the one who was winging it. I mean, just by virtue of the way Letterman looked when he came out on stage with that scraggly beard. And you expected the show with the writers in tow to be more polished, and actually, they didn't seem as polished as, say, Leno did - who looked totally polished. He came out, his gray hair glistening, that, you know, nice, crisp suit. And he was clearly reading off of cue cards, and he had a monologue just about as long as any other monologue when there were writers present.
MONTAGNE: Now, Jay Leno is not supposed to have writers. He's not supposed to have written it down, anything. Those are the rules. But let's hear a little of what he said last night.
(Soundbite of TV show, "The Tonight Show")
(Soundbite of clapping, cheering)
Mr. JAY LENO (Host, "The Tonight Show"): As you know, we are in the middle of this writers' strike here in Hollywood. And it's already cost the town over half a billion dollars - $500 million, or, as Paul McCartney calls that, a divorce. But that's what it is called.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. RICE: It was cute. It was vintage Leno. You got a cute joke like the McCartney one. You have the requisite Britney Spears joke, which always pops up once a week on his show. And then you have the moment of self-effacing humor. He admitted that his wife helped him with his monologue. I mean, the guy hadn't skipped a beat.
MONTAGNE: And then David Letterman, of course, did have writers.
(Soundbite of TV show, "Late Show with David Letterman")
Mr. DAVID LETTERMAN (Host, "Late Show with David Letterman"): Ladies and gentlemen, two long months, but by God, I'm finally out of rehab.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. LETTERMAN: I got to tell you something. We haven't done a show in two months, and seriously, during that period of time, I was very introspective.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. LETTERMAN: Here's what I learned about myself: Show or no show, I really enjoy drinking in the morning.
(Soundbite of laughter)
MONTAGNE: Well, that moment was funny. How about the rest of it?
Ms. RICE: It was definitely funny hearing his jokes about the way he looked, because I think he seemed to agree that he looked pretty silly with that beard.
(Soundbite of laughter)
MONTAGNE: When it came to the guests, and we just heard that at least one - the spokespeople for writers was very disappointed that Mike Huckabee showed up. But there were other guests. Robin Williams, he was on Letterman.
Ms. RICE: Yes. He's a friend of the show, and he, of course, didn't disappoint. And, you know, conversely, over on Leno, you've got Huckabee, who ends up having this great platform to talk about himself endlessly. It was a great moment for Huckabee. And, you know, he was actually kind of charming, kind of funny.
MONTAGNE: And, I mean, this is a sort of thing that, as the writers' strike goes on, Leno may be hard pressed to get the big-name movie stars who won't want to walk across picket lines.
Ms. RICE: That's the million-dollar question. You know, on the one hand, yes, there's actors out there who don't want to cross the picket lines. But at the same time, you know, this strike has been going on for over two months. I think strike fatigue is settling in. And there may be some actors out there that will cross the picket line to be on the show, because no matter what, an appearance on Leno sure helps launch your movie.
MONTAGNE: Lynette, thanks very much.
Ms. RICE: No problem.
MONTAGNE: Lynette Rice is a senior writer, covering television for Entertainment Weekly.
(Soundbite of music)
MONTAGNE: This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.
STEVE INSKEEP, host:
And I'm Steve Inskeep.