While I was home for the holidays, Pat and I got into an unexpectedly heated debate about the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike. I’m not sure we’re that far apart, really. We both agreed that the writers got screwed on profit-sharing from DVDs, and now they deserve a fair cut of online distribution (and some renegotiation on the DVD deal).

But one thing I’m really liking about the strike: The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are both totally ad-hoc. Without writers, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are doing a lot of off-the-cuff comedy with B-grade graphic effects and the occasional lapse of uncomfortable silence. It’s so much better: random, sometimes poorly edited, and incredibly funny.

Because Hollywood refuses to show their faces to a camera, all their interviews are with politicians, economists, and other people who generally have something intelligent to say. That has always been the draw for me–not only are these two men incredibly funny comedians, they are also very smart. I think the strike is giving them the right environment to bring those strengths back to the fore. Keep it up, guys.