Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Maybe writers don't matter much, after all.

Watching David Letterman and Jay Leno last night on their first new shows since TV and movie writers went on strike, it was hard to tell which one had his joke providers. Leno's opening monologue was funnier, even though he had to write his own material. Letterman, who reached a separate deal with the union that got his writers back to work, looked lost and a bit haggard with a scraggly white beard he grew during his two-month hiatus.

Both had presidential hopefuls as guests -- Democrat Hillary Clinton on Letterman and Republican Mike Huckabee on Leno. The candidates did better than the hosts, getting free publicity on the eve of the Iowa caucuses.

Robin Williams joked about Letterman's beard and recalled his recent trip to entertain U.S. troops in the Middle East, while Leno cooked a pepper steak with Emeril Lagasse. Not exactly sizzling stuff.

Leno's ``Tonight Show'' return included a nice video swipe at his NBC boss Jeff Zucker, comparing Zucker's purported mansion to a collection of ``Writertown'' shanties where the striking scribes are supposedly living.

Leno's delivery was energetic, though it will be interesting to see if he can keep up the pace as the strike continues, especially since he may have to dredge deep to find guests willing to cross picket lines.

Huckabee went on Leno's show after appearing confused about whether he would have to cross a picket line. (He did.) Let's hope he's better informed about foreign policy.

Huckabee's Guitar

Huckabee said his underdog campaign has gained momentum because he reminds voters ``more of the guy they work with than the guy who laid them off.'' He also repeated his call to eliminate the Internal Revenue Service and played bass guitar with the ``Tonight Show'' band. I suspect lambasting the IRS will get him more votes than his musicianship.

Letterman opened with a chorus line of long-legged beauties bearing Writers Guild strike signs and a demand by someone identified as a ``strike captain'' that ``arrogant media moguls'' stop splurging on ``cufflinks, cocktails and whores.''

Lest anyone miss the point, Letterman's Top 10 list was comprised of demands presented by real striking writers. No. 4 came from writer/director Nora Ephron: ``Hazard pay for breaking up fights on `The View.'''

O'Brien, Ferguson

As the night drew on, the viewing got tougher.

Craig Ferguson, who follows Letterman on CBS and also had his writers back, started with a lame skit featuring a shepherd sweet-talking a favored sheep. He noted that although his deal put him in a position to get A-list guests, D-listers were still welcome.

``We will not improve this show,'' he declared, and then proceeded to prove it. While Ferguson laughed heartily at most of his gags, they didn't budge the needle on my Yuckometer.

NBC's Conan O'Brien and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel, both working without a writers' net, assaulted the eyelids more than the funny bone.

``Hopefully this night will be over very soon,'' Kimmel cracked early on. Unfortunately for viewers, it wasn't. Kimmel's entertainment included a Christmas card featuring a Santa puppet performing a sex act.

O'Brien, like Letterman sporting a new beard, didn't do much better. He killed time spinning his ring and walking around his offices playing ``Sunshine of Your Love'' and ``Purple Haze'' on his Stratocaster.

Dead air never sounded better.

(Dave Shiflett is a critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Dave Shiflett at dshifl@aol.com.

Last Updated: January 3, 2008 14:02 EST