Late-Night Hosts Join Forces For Podcast To Raise Money For Their Staffs!

“Strike Force Five” [*thunder clap!*], a podcast series hosted by major network late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel (ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"), Jimmy Fallon (NBC's "The Tonight Show"), Seth Meyers (NBC's "Late Night"), Stephen Colbert (CBS's "The Late Show"), and John Oliver (HBO's "Last Week Tonight"), is your backstage pass to late-night TV.

Named after their group text chain, the first episode launched Wednesday, August 30, on all podcasr platforms. The 5 podcast hosts will meet weekly to bring their “unique insights, opinions, and humor to the show as they navigate the Hollywood strikes and beyond,” Spotify’s website reads. While it’s not all just laughs, the hosts are most importantly standing in solidarity during a pivotal time in entertainment amidst the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

The WGA, which has around 11,500 members, went on strike in the first few days of May after failing to achieve a new labor deal with major Hollywood companies that make movies and television series, and all late-night shows went dark as a result. The SAG-AFTRA actors union, which has 160,000 members and is the biggest union in Hollywood, went on strike in July.

As the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have persisted over the past few months, shaking up Hollywood, thousands have been out of work for months without industry jobs. This has led to significant delays in both production and new releases, including the network shows of Kimmel, Fallon, Meyers, Colbert, and Oliver. In this podcast limited series, all proceeds from the show will go to each of the host’s respective staff members who are out of work. The show is slated for at least 12 episodes, all during the occurrence of the strikes, but it’s unclear to everyone how long the strikes will stretch.  

“The reason we’re doing this is because we are financially supporting members of our staff,” Kimmel mentions in the first episode of the podcast. “All the money we make for this show goes to them.”

So, how is the show doing so far? Well, the first episode topped both Apple Podcast and Spotify charts within two days of the show's debut – so, pretty good so far! Other topics have included their first episode memories, recent news stories they wished they had been on the air for to cover, and more.

 “Strike Force Five” is available to stream on all podcast platforms now!