WGA members are protesting outside The Daily Show studios.

Stop the insanity!

On January 7, with the rest of the late-night crew. It seems Comedy Central put some pressure on them to do this, as they’ve released the following (hilarious) joint statement:

“We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence.”

Maybe they can’t express ambivalence, but they can sure still be damn funny.

The WGA’s all pissed, of course, and released the following retort:

“Comedy Central forcing Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert back on the air will not give the viewers the quality shows they’ve come to expect. The only way to get the writing staffs back on the job is for the AMPTP companies to come back to the table prepared to negotiate a fair deal with the Writers Guild.”

I’m really really interested to see how these shows fare sans writers. Stewart and Colbert are genuinely funny guys, and writers themselves, but can they hold down an entire show without help?

We’re gonna find out, kids.

Members of the Writers Guild of America went on strike early this morning.

The shows most impacted are news-centric talk shows, like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

There are rumors that Jon Stewart has decided not only to support the writers’ strike, but to pay his staff through his production company, Busboy Productions. His rep denies it, but the rumors persist.

It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Stewart just signed a 2-year contract extension which will keep him on the air through 2010.

In a separate announcement, Comedy Central also announced the launch of its Daily Show website, where you can check out episodes of The Daily Show dating back to 1999.

If you’re wondering where Lindsay Lohan acquired her penchant for rambling, nonsensical epistolaries, look no further than her father’s most recent jailhouse opus. [Pop on the Pop]

Aw, Danny Tanner can still make his little girls smile. [Agent Bedhead]

Turns out Courtney Love can stay sober and plant absurd rumors about how she’s being considered as a judge for American Idol and categorically deny them, all at the same time! Yet, basic spelling continues to elude her. [Defamer]

Tara Conner’s no stranger to any type of blow. [ICYDK]

I hadn’t heard of Lily Allen until sometime last week, but this girl’s getting really famous really fast. [popbytes]

The gossip and sports blogospheres collide with the sound of Gisele Bundchen getting pummeled by Tom Brady. [The Big Lead]

Memo to Tyra Banks: We are done talking about the weight you’ve put on in the past couple of years. We did it for a day or two, got it out of our systems, and we’re ready to move on. We’d really appreciate it if you’d allow us to do that. Step away from the fat pictures, Tyra. Please. Love, The Blogosphere. [The Blemish]

Bill Gates can’t get away from Jon Stewart fast enough. [Cele|bitchy]

Busy at day job, so posting will be slow today. To busy yourselves, check out this piece Maureen Dowd did for Rolling Stone on Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

Not sure what made me think of this, but for some reason that god-awful Tori Amos Daily Show interview popped into my head today. I thought it might be on YouTube, and, sure enough, it was. Now, my friends will attest that I am a HUGE Toriphile, as well as a HUGE Stewartphile (there’s not really a cutesy name for Stewart fans…I guess we can just go with “Democrats”), so this interview was terribly disappointing for me, and really tested my allegiance to Tori. I still love her, though, so I’m throwing the “Sorta Fairytale” video on here, too.

Update: Am I absolutely crazy, or is the guy in this video Adrien Brody?

In case the Emmy results you care about do not completely overlap with the Emmy results that I care about, the LA Times has the budget to put together the whole list.

I’m a pretty happy Beet about all this; I am thrilled that The Office won; I’m always happy to see Jon Stewart do well; it’s good to see Mariska Hargitay recognized for holding her own against Chris Meloni all these years (I’m sorry but Kathryn Erbe may as well have been a Maltese in Vincent D’Onofrio’s Louis Vuitton); and as long as we’re lauding women here, how fabulous that the Seinfeld Curse was not only broken but spit and menstruated upon by Julia Louis-Dreyfus after all the men tried and failed; and Megan Mullally ought to be voted President of our country, but I guess an Emmy is an okay start.

The only thing I’m mildly annoyed with is the Blythe Danner win. I would have liked to see that go to Chandra Wilson or Sandra Oh, but Chandra will have other chances, I’m sure, and I suppose Sandra can cry herself to sleep clutching her Golden Globe.

Most importantly, Joan Rivers conducted her 1000th red carpet interview (with Debra Messing). Unfortunately, it aired on the TV Guide channel. I love Joan Rivers, and I’m bummed she’s not on E! anymore. Mostly, though, I’ll always pine for that one year long, long ago when they let Kathy Griffin do the red carpet interviews. She asked the kids from Arrested Development if they had any weed. It was probably the highlight of my life, and I pray each night that someone will give her a second chance.