Strike set to silence talk shows

The Writers Guild of America has asked its 12,000 members to stop working and set up picket lines from Monday.

It wants more cash for work which goes on "new" media such as DVDs or online.

Shows hosted by stars such as Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jon Stewart are expected to stop almost immediately as they rely on a supply of topical jokes.

It was anticipated NBC would broadcast repeats of Leno's programme, The Tonight Show, plus Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Saturday Night Live from Monday if the walkout went ahead, the Hollywood Reporter said.

It also said old episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report would be screened under contingency plans by the Comedy Central channel.

Two questions:

Why do talk shows have writers?

Why do talk shows need writers?

Just fuckin' talk, jagoffs!