Quiet on the set! How do you instantly silence late-night talk show hosts and their guests? Easy. Take away the writers who provide the words to so much of what they say and how they interact.
That is the obvious conclusion to draw from the announcement Hollywood sets will be dark starting Tuesday after writers agreed to strike, as Breitbart News reported.
Nightly talk shows including The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon will all disappear as a result.
Far-left Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert will be amongst those hardest hit because they rely on vast teams of writers to craft their nightly monologues.
Deadline reports they are not alone.
Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Daily Show, which had correspondent Dulcé Sloan host this week, also will be hit.
Meanwhile weekly additions such as Saturday Night Live, Real Time with Bill Maher and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver will be similarly impacted.
The Writers Guild of America authorized the strike Monday night after negotiations with the studios and networks failed to produce an agreement.
It will mark the first time Hollywood writers have walked off the job since the 2007-2008 strike, which lasted three months and brought the industry to a virtual standstill.
All is not lost however for those who still want to hear talk – any talk.
The Late Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show, Late Night and The Daily Show are all expected to pivot to re-runs, according to Deadline.