TV talk-show host Conan O'Brien will dig into his own pockets to pay the salaries of 75 production employees sidelined by the Hollywood writers strike, while 80 employees of Jay Leno's late night show were let go.

NBC had pledged to pay staffers of Late Night With Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Last Call With Carson Daly until the end of November, according to trade paper The Hollywood Reporter.

Daly, who is not a member of the union, said this week he would restart production, and defended his position by saying that if he didn't go back, "roughly 75 staff and crew would have lost their jobs."

He said he suspended production for a month to support the cause, but that it was time he got back on air. New shows are expected to be broadcast next week.

David Letterman had already announced he would continue to pay the salaries of employees on the Late Show With David Letterman and The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, both produced under his Worldwide Pants company.

Meanwhile, about 80 staffers on Leno's show were told Friday they were being let go. The announcement caused outrage, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The source of the anger appears to be an announcement Leno made to his crew shortly after the writers walked out.

"He told us not to panic. He said to trust him. He said: 'I can't get into details, but nobody will miss a car payment or lose their house. We're family. Trust me. I'm going to take care of this,'" said one staffer who did not want to be identified.

On Sunday, the Hollywood Reporter said Leno has decided to pay laid-off staffers through to the end of next week.

The disgruntled employees say they all should have been looking for jobs right away. They are also upset that Leno hadn't stepped in to help out until the end of the year.

A Leno representative said the comedian just handed out $500,000 in bonuses to staff. Striking writer Joe Madeiros, who has worked with Leno for 18 years, defended his boss.

"I don't know what people expected. How much more should he give over a situation that he didn't cause?" he said.

The Writer's Guild of America (WGA) went on strike Nov. 5, triggering reruns and the cancellation of production of many shows.

The guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers returned to negotiations Monday, but talks seem to have ground to a halt. 

The sides are at loggerheads over the compensation writers get for DVDs and material shown on various media, including mobile phones.

The producers group broke the media blackout Thursday by revealing that its latest offer included an additional $130 million US in compensation for writers. It claimed the guild asked for time this weekend to review the offer.

The guild shot back with a statement, calling the proposal "a massive rollback," and vowed it would "not accept a bad deal."

On Friday, the WGA released details of the offer:

  • A single fixed payment for streaming of TV episodes online, about $250 US for one year's reuse of an hour-long program.
  • No additional payment for streaming of full-length movies online.
  • No change to current amount paid for online sales of DVDs.
  • $1,300 US for a 15-minute online episode derived from a network show.
With files from the Associated Press