After two months of repeats due to the ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America, NBC announced today that "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" will return with new episodes on Wednesday, January 2nd.

Not having fresh late-night shows has cost the major networks tons of money since they are highly profitable -- and since the presidential campaigns are heating up, audiences have no doubt missed out on heaps of fresh barbs aimed at the candidates.

It is important to point out that both Jay & Conan will return to the airwaves WITHOUT writers coming up with their monologues and skits.

Today's announcement didn't touch on how different the shows may be without the writing staffs, who continue to walk the picket line. Perhaps no monologue and no 'Jay Walking' segments or 'Headlines'? Or longer interviews? It's anybody's guess.

But this is pretty much exactly what happened the last time the WGA walked out. Back in 1988, Johnny Carson came back to work without his writers.

Word is David Letterman is about to announce his return with new episodes, too. His production company WorldWide Pants owns his show as well as Craig Ferguson's late-nighter, and the WGA has said it would be willing to cut individual deals with independent production houses.

In the interest of full disclosure, NBC Universal is REEL TALK's parent company.