THEY are among the most famous people in the United States - the talkshow hosts who have kept America laughing for years.
But in a sign of how many people work behind the scenes to ensure their gags are consistently funny, a strike by Hollywood"s writers" union has forced The Late Show With David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno off air.
The two iconic late night shows were replaced by repeats on Monday and a string of others, including The Late Late Show hosted by Craig Ferguson, the Scottish actor and comedian, are following suit.
Nick Counter, chief negotiator for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, said he expected the joke drought to last.
"We"re hunkered down for a long one," he said. "From our standpoint, we made every good faith effort to negotiate a deal, and they went on strike.
"At some point, conversations will take place. But not now."
Dancing With the Stars, one of the country"s highest-rated prime-time shows, was one of the few to go ahead as planned on Monday night, with its hosts left to ad-lib. It was unclear last night for how long this would continue.
The strike is the first by Hollywood writers against television networks and movie studios in nearly two decades.
Last-minute negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and producers failed to produce a deal on such key issues as how much writers are paid when their shows go online.
No new negotiations are scheduled, although the writers guild negotiating committee did plan a meeting of members.
In Los Angeles, writers were planning to picket 14 studios in four-hour shifts from 9am to 5pm every day until a deal was reached. They said the next move was up to the studios.
"My hope is that it won"t be too long," said John Bowman, chief negotiator for the writers. "We have more reason to get together than not."
How the American public will react to the lack of fresh entertainment remains to be seen, but the strike could eventually start to affect film production and prime-time television dramas.
There is not an immediate problem as most movie studios have stockpiled dozens of scripts and TV shows have enough scripts or completed shows in hand to last until early next year.
However, Tim Kring, a producer and writer of the hit show Heroes, which is shown on BBC2 in the UK, said he had to revise the ending of the show"s 11th episode on the chance that it might be the last one to be broadcast this season.
"Fortunately we were able to hustle back," Mr Kring said from a picket line in an effort to shut down the show. "The audience won"t be left in a lurch."
Reality TV shows are set to flourish during the strike, since they do not depend on writers.
沪江小编：目前来看，编剧罢工影响最小的是电影业，影响最直接的就是脱口秀节目了。脱口秀很好笑，但是编剧罢工就一点都不好笑了。编剧一罢工，两个招牌脱口秀就只能停播。据说《英雄》本季十几集就要结束，《实习医生格蕾》也有停播的可能。尽管现在各大电视台都攒了一些剧本，不过总有弹尽粮绝的一天，目前看情形恐怕要变成真人秀的天下了，因为真人秀对编剧要求不高。罢工是一场持久战，要看哪边能坚持住了。只是，观众怎么办呢？难道真的要进入美剧的全面复习阶段？不管怎么样，我们只能等待了。
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