As of tonight (Jan. 2) the ratings for Nightline and back-to-back reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond will finally return to their sorry pre-strike levels. Tonight's the night the talk shows return – and David Letterman seems poised to make the best debut of the pack.

Letterman's show is one of only two programs to make the strike come-back with a staff of writers. Not only that, but his is the only talker that's announced its guest list for the week. According to the show's website, Robin Williams and musical act Lupe Fiasco will be the first guests to take the couch since the strike shut the show down in November. Halifax's Ellen Page (Juno), Donald Trump, Shooter Jennings, Bill Maher and the cast of Broadway's Young Frankenstein will appear later in the week.

Oddly, the other shows aren't revealing who'll be making appearances. The only news comes from Jay Leno, who, according to Entertainment Weekly, is set to welcome Republican presidential wannabe Mike Huckabee. Without writers to drum up enough gags to fill an hour, Leno and much of the rest of the hosts returning to the air tonight, as well as those making comebacks next week (Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are back Jan. 7), will be relying heavily on securing quality interviews as the strike continues.

Only two shows, CBS's Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson are making their comebacks with writers in tow. An agreement made Dec. 28 between Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company and the striking Writers Guild of America allows those shows to employ their writers during the strike.

Last week, Letterman released a statement saying he hoped the independent agreement reached between his company and the WGA might inspire the WGA and the AMPTP to resume discussions. To allow their writers to return to work, Worldwide Pants accepted the terms the WGA presented to the studios during their December negotiations.

"We're happy to be going back to work and particularly pleased to be doing it with our writers," Letterman said. "This is not a solution to the strike, which unfortunately continues to disrupt the lives of thousands. But I hope it will be seen as a step in the right direction."

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