Both the WGA and SAG strikes continue on, with no current end in sight. This has not only left the writers and actors out of work, but also, every late-night talk show host on pause. Hosts that need writers and actors to make their shows happen. So, during this downtime, the five main hosts of the American late-night talk shows—Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver—have come together. Mostly to talk about the complexities of the strikes, and what it means to their employees, to show business overall, and to them. And now, they are releasing these conversations in podcast format. And they’ve chosen to call themselves Strike Force Five. Because deep down, they are all big nerds.
All five hosts have been meeting every week since May, right around the time when the writers strike began. Although they recorded their conversations, they originally didn’t know what to do with them. But someone decided to release all these conversations into a podcast format. Strike Force Five launches on August 30. It’s available across most major podcast platforms. The Strike Force Five podcast will run for at least twelve episodes, with each host serving as a rotating moderator. If the strikes continue, we imagine more episodes will follow.
All proceeds received by the hosts from Strike Force Five will go to out-of-work staff from each of the hosts’ respective shows, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Spotify’s Megaphone will host the series, with Spotify alone as the exclusive sales partner. Mint Mobile and Diageo will support Strike Force Five, as they were the first to come aboard to support the show as co-presenting sponsors. We wish this “Avengers of talk show hosts” was happening under better circumstances of course. However, we are still excited to hear it.
Strike Force Five drops episode one on August 30.