I am hearing now from two sources that the deal between the Writers Guild and David Letterman's Worldwide Pants company — the one that would allow Dave's and Craig Ferguson's shows to resume production — may be a lot more complicated that current press reports indicate. The WGA, for one thing, may still take the position that it's on strike against all of CBS and that it won't allow the network to solve two of its most desperate problems. If all of CBS wanted to sign on to the WGA agreement, that would be one thing. But there's a powerful argument to be made that the networks shouldn't be allowed to get their most critical shows back while still keeping most of the industry shut down, and there may also be complications in the deal from the Letterman side. It may happen…but then again, it may not. No word yet on how it will impact the Leno/O'Brien situation at NBC (or Jimmy Kimmel's at ABC) if Letterman doesn't return soon.
Also, several sources in reporting about the Worldwide Pants situation are saying that Johnny Carson came back to work during the '88 WGA Strike on a similar arrangement. This is from the website of Broadcasting & Cable, an industry trade paper. In an article headlined "Letterman May Follow Johnny Carson and Cut Side Deal," it is stated…
There is precedent for Letterman's move: Johnny Carson returned with his writers thanks to a side deal with the WGA during the 1988 strike. Like Letterman, Carson owned his own show.
Carson did own The Tonight Show while he hosted it but as far as I know, he did not make a deal with the WGA in '88 in order to resume production. My recollection is that he just said "It's time to go back" and he went back and the WGA — because it was Johnny Carson and because they were too busy with other matters — didn't make an issue of it, just as they do not contemplate taking action against Ellen DeGeneres. I could be wrong but I don't think I am. If Carson Productions made an interim WGA deal, it was some time after he returned to the air.