5 late-night TV hosts team up for new podcast during the strike
By Matt Moore
Late-night TV hosts are back … sort of. Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver will co-host the new podcast Strike Force Five.
Spotify announced that the all-star lineup of late-night TV hosts will launch Strike Force Five on Wednesday, August 30. The comedians will “their unique insights, opinions and humor to the show as they navigate the Hollywood strikes and beyond.”
The podcast will deliver a minimum of 12 episodes. Each of the five hosts will rotate as moderates, leading the discussion on the given topics surrounding the strikes.
As if hearing late-night’s best all in one spot wasn’t enough good news, the podcast will also be for a good cause. All proceeds from Strike Force Five will go toward paying the staff from each host’s late-night show. Writers and other crew members have been out of work since the Writers Guild of America went on strike back in May.
Sor far, there hasn’t been any sign that late-night TV will return to air with new episodes. A writers’ strike in 2007 saw several programs eventually return without a writing staff. However, there isn’t any indication that networks plan to the same in 2023.
Late-night TV hosts have a history of collaboration
Strike Force Five is the latest evidence that the “late-night wars” are a relic of the past. Gone are the days of Jay Leno and David Letterman publicly, and privately, feuding. Even the fiasco involving Conan O’Brien and Leno seems like a lifetime ago.
The truth is that there is a shared camaraderie and respect among Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver. The same was true when O’Brien, James Corden, and Trevor Noah were active on television.
Having so many late-night shows means the hosts don’t need to be as competitive with each other. Countless times, hosts have appeared as guests on each other’s shows, done podcasts together, or performed bits at award shows.
The new podcast will be a unique opportunity to see how they all interact in the same conversation. Each comedian brings a different style and sense of humor to the conversation, which should be absolute gold for late-night TV fans.