"Daily Show" Filling Time With Pre-Strike Scripted Footage

"Daily Show" Filling Time With Pre-Strike Scripted Footage

Last night, on The A Daily Show, John Oliver filed Our Dead Planet, this brilliant, and seemingly news-pegged report on the imperiled Earth:

That John Oliver! He's hilarious! He's ingenious! He's... um.. he's on strike, isn't he? In fact, Oliver is not only a striking writer but has been one of the most high-profile presences on the WGA picket lines here in New York. And is it just me, or does that look remarkably like a bit of scripted television?

It's not just me, and I checked in with Comedy Central, who said that the piece was shot October 30, and The Daily Show has other pre-strike pieces in the can that may air as well. As for the other appearances on Daily Show this week, by Oliver, Aasif Mandvi and Rob Riggle, the network says that they're "playing by the rules," i.e., not actually writing the lines that they deliver.

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