Five late night show hosts are joining forces on a podcast to benefit their production and writing teams amid the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike.
Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, and Seth Meyers will debut their podcast entitled Strike Force Five today, per The Washington Post.
The podcast is slated to release at least twelve episodes, and 100% of the proceeds will go to members of the teams behind Jimmy Kimmel Live, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Late Night With Seth Meyers, who have been out of work since the WGA strike began on May 2.
The episode description of the podcast’s introduction goes as follows: “Have you ever wondered what it would be like to watch a football team with five quarterbacks on the field at once? Introducing Strike Force Five!, hosted by Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver. All proceeds go to support their out of work staffs. Listen now, it’s the right thing to do.”
A news release published by Spotify yesterday (Aug. 29) says that the five hosts crafted the idea “to meet every week to discuss the complexities behind the ongoing Hollywood strikes” back in May via Zoom meetings with each other. The release also stated that the podcast will be “available across most major podcast platforms,” including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Yesterday, prospective listeners were granted a sneak peek on Instagram of the auditory antics the five hosts will get up to in the new podcast, including some Jimmy-induced name confusion between Fallon and Kimmel.
All five hosts have expressed their tremendous support of their writers and their solidarity with the WGA strike. According to Vanity Fair, while on the red carpet for the Met Gala in May, Fallon said, “I wouldn’t have a show if it wasn’t for my writers. I support them all the way.”
Not only is their support of the strike so strong, but their support of each other is remarkable, despite their inherent competition with each other for better ratings.
As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, former late night show host James Corden, who bid farewell to The Late Late Show With James Corden at the end of April, said, “When I first moved here to America to take over the show, all I would hear was talk of the late night wars, then I came to realize we’re not a war, we’re a family.”