I am – Hercules!!

“The Late Show With David Letterman” bookers have contacted Howard Stern's agents about Stern making an appearance on the CBS talk show, according to comments made by Stern on his Sirius radio show Wednesday morning. "I don't know if it's for sure," said Stern. "I guess they have to work things out with the union."

Very knowledgeable sources inside “Late Show” tell Ain’t It Cool exclusively that “The Late Show” writers had not heard anything about about the overture to Stern prior to Stern's on-air disclosure. This suggests (to me at least) that “work things out with the union” means CBS CEO (and AMPTP principal) Les Moonves thinks the strike is close enough to being resolved to pay Letterman’s bookers to warm up the “Late Show” machine for an impending return.

An unnamed but “very reliable” source told entertainment journalist Nikki Finke Monday that a WGA/AMPTP deal was “done, basically.” That source (whose name, I’m guessing, could rhyme with “roomves”) said he didn’t expect the deal to be announced this week, but said the strike could be settled before Christmas.

UPDATE!!Reliable sources indicate that Dave's bookers (Dave has been paying his entire non-writing staff even though the show is dark) have been routinely booking -- and cancelling -- guests since the strike began in anticipation of a resolution. So the Stern booking apparently bespeaks nothing with regard to how well or poorly the negotiations are going and my suppositions were wholly in error!!

But you can still enjoy this exciting strike-related YouTube video from the "Late Show" writers:

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by Steve Martin