The Colbert Report

Now that the writers' strike is over, we can look to the future. Hopefully viewers will stick around for new episodes of 30 Rock and The Office as opposed to NBC's current strategy of four or five hours of Deal or No Deal per week. But let's try to focus on the positives, and yes, there were some good things that came out of the strike, and we're not talking about Internet residuals.

We're not about to claim the strike was a great thing, or even a good thing. We at BuddyTV miss the adventures of Ned the Piemaker and Lonely Tourist Charlotte Charles. We wonder what made Tony Almeida so evil. And we're still curious about when Marshall's final two slaps will occur. Yet we can look beyond that to find the silver lining on the giant cloud that was the writers' strike.

5. Writer Recognition

Before this strike, let's be honest, most people had no idea what the initials WGA stood for. Now they do, thanks in part to the Screen Actors Guild, which lent its support in the form of top-name actors walking the picket lines, and by giving the SAG Award for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series to Tina Fey for her work on 30 Rock, a show she also created and writes for. During her SAG acceptance speech, she even made a quip about being a writer first and an actor second. By giving her this award and this recognition, they were tacitly recognizing the accomplishments of writers everywhere.


4. Big Brother 9

We realize Big Brother isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if you're looking for pure voyeuristic entertainment, there's nothing better. The biggest problem with most reality shows is they can edit footage to make people fit into certain molds, either the villain or the sympathetic one. With Big Brother, through the 24/7 live feeds on the Internet, there's nowhere to hide. True fans know exactly who these people are, and all the editing in the world can't save you from looking like an anti-Semite. So with scripted shows running out, CBS resorted to a special winter season of Big Brother, and we couldn't be happier to have these crazy houseguests and their ring leader, Julie Chen, back in our lives.


3. Cable Shows on the Networks

Dexter is a great show. Not that most people would know, because it's on Showtime, a network that throws a parade when a program gets 1.5 million viewers. Even the worst shows on the CW get that. Starting this Sunday, more people than ever will get a chance to discover this brilliant series as CBS, Showtime's parent network, will air edited versions of the first season on Sundays at 10pm. In April, as is currently planned, NBC will start airing reruns of the USA comedies Monk and Psych. Since most casual TV viewers don't look beyond the four or five channels at the bottom of the dial, the strike gave less appreciated cable shows the opportunity to shine and expand to a whole new audience. Anything that allows more people to see Dexter can't be all bad.


2. The Celebrity Apprentice

When we first heard the idea, we were skeptical. When we first saw the cast list, our skepticism increased exponentially. How could a tired old reality show full of B or C-list “celebrities” be any good? Well, it actually proved to be one of the most absurdly entertaining reality shows of all-time. We loved Gene Simmons' self-destructive over-confidence. We laughed at the fact that the men dominated early on based solely on their more famous friends with more money willing to buy a $10,000 hot dog. Piers Morgan and Stephen Baldwin were a great team when things were going fine. And now we're assured another season of this highly entertaining trainwreck. While The Celebrity Apprentice still would've aired without the writers' strike, it's doubtful that competing against new episodes of CSI and Grey's Anatomy would've allowed it become a hit.


1. The Late Night Huckabee Fight

Everyone was unsure about how the late night comedians would do when they came back before the writers' strike was over. It was often hit-or-miss, with lots of filler and non-celebrity guests. Then something magical happened: Governor Mike Huckabee won the Republican caucus in Iowa.

Fans of The Colbert Report know that Huckabee appeared on the show many times, offering his vice presidency to Stephen Colbert and getting “the Colbert Bump,” a boost in the polls thanks to his appearance. As such, Colbert took credit for creating Mike Huckabee's winning campaign. Over on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, the red-haired comedian had a different take. Due to the popularity of his Walker, Texas Ranger lever, Conan said he caused the revitalized career of Chuck Norris, who endorsed Huckabee, and as such, Conan was responsible for Huckabee winning the Iowa caucus.

This led to a series of hilarious events better watched than told, so watch this YouTube clip for the full story:



On February 4, during The Daily Show, Stephen Colbert showed up to talk smack about Conan O'Brien. Conan showed up and challenged both Comedy Central hosts to a fight over who created Huckabee. The fight was postponed through The Colbert Report until Late Night, which is where it ended.

This was pure television genius, an entertaining way to fill empty time with a special three-show crossover event. The payoff was more than worth it, as the fight ended with a triple knockout, followed by a message from Mike Huckabee, who put an end to the debate by saying that America was responsible for creating Mike Huckabee.

If the strike never happened, these three shows would not have needed to fill the time, and it's probable that we never would have seen this epic event. As such, we owe it to ourselves to see that the writers' strike was not all bad. Necessity is the mother of invention, and out of the necessity to fill airtime, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart invented comedy gold.


-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image and video courtesy of NBC)