Shaggy, but not too shabby.

Thursday marks the second day of new late night shows since the Writers Guild strike, and things have never been fuzzier-- ...uh"funnier." Whoops.

That's right. Wednesday night brought Letterman, Leno, Conan and Craig back into our magic moving-picture cubes for the first time in two months. During the hiatus all four shows had been delving deep into the vault for reruns, especially Leno who apparently thought we'd enjoy seeing "vintage" tonight shows dating back to the early 1990's (and who doesn't get a huge kick out of fifteen-year-old current events humor?) And although it is great to have a few more laughs at the expense of John Wayne Bobbitt, it's even better to get back to laughing at Britney Spears.

While Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien returned without the aid of their writing staff, David Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants was able to reach a special agreement with the WGA which allowed him and Ferguson to use writers even as the strike continues. To quote Dave, "I know what you're thinking--- 'this crap is written?'"

So as the boys over at NBC are desperately killing airtime with audience Q+A, or timing how long a wedding ring will spin on a desk, or interviewing Mike Huckabee, it's business as usual at CBS, sort of. Ferguson actually did an entire show of comedy bits without any guests, which is a first as far as I know (and don't expect me to bother googling that to check.) Dave surprised the nation by sporting a full white beard, which was the subject of much teasing, especially from Letterman's first guest of 2008, Robin Williams. Ironic, considering that Robin was actually turned down for a part in "Planet of the Apes" for being too goddamned hairy. True story.

But the beard brigade doesn't end with Dave; Conan was also rocking some very stylish face-foliage of his own. The orange-haired talk show host actually devoted a segment of his show to admiring his new beard, complete with a creepy theme song by the Max Weinberg 7, proving that you really can get away with anything at twelve-thirty on NBC. In my rarely humble opinion, Conan looks a little less goofy with a beard, which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending whose sideburn you're on. ("Side." I meant "side.")

So what's with all the Chia-cheeked late night hosts? You're guess is [probably not] as good as mine. My guess is that during their extended time off they all went to see "Sweeney Todd," which left poor Dave and Conan with a terrible fear of razor blades. Either that or they're just now getting really into ZZ Top. Whatever the case may be, TV is worth watching again and everyone is much hairier--- ...uh, "happier."