Bill Maher announced plans to bring his late-night talk show back to television without his writing staff.
The comedian posted the announcement to social media Wednesday night, marking the first of the late-night hosts to return to air amid the ongoing writers’ strike.
“Real Time is coming back, unfortunately, sans writers or writing,” Maher wrote. “It has been five months, and it is time to bring people back to work. The writers have important issues that I sympathize with, and hope they are addressed to their satisfaction, but they are not the only people with issues, problems, and concerns. Despite some assistance from me, much of the staff is struggling mightily.”
The HBO show will return on Sept. 22 at 10 p.m.
Maher continued by saying, “I love my writers, I am one of them, but I’m not prepared to lose an entire year and see so many below-the-line people suffer so much.”
Maher said he would “honor the spirit of the strike” by not presenting typically scripted segments including a monologue, desk piece, New Rules or editorial.
Returning without a writing staff, Maher acknowledged the quality issues that may arise saying,
“I’ll say it upfront to the audience: the show I will be doing without my writers will not be as good as our normal show, full stop. But the heart of the show is an off-the-cuff panel discussion that aims to cut through the bullshit and predictable partisanship, and that will continue. The show will not disappoint.”
The Writers Guild of America strike, which started on May 2, has dragged on for months with no end or imminent deal in sight. On July 14, actors with SAG-AFTRA also voted to strike, effectively shutting down Hollywood’s entertainment industry.
Maher’s return to late-night television marks a departure from his peers, who have gone dark since the strike.
Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver have banded together to create a podcast called, “Strike Force Five.” All proceeds from the podcast will be donated to their out-of-work staff.
Earlier this week, Drew Barrymore came under fire after she announced the return of her daytime talk show.
Since her announcement, other shows have announced their return as well, including “The Jennifer Hudson Show” and “The Talk,” both of which will return on Sept. 18.