Some shows may fill the late-night void - sort of

By ERIN CARLSON

NEW YORK --

Associated Press Writer

A week after Halloween, Jon Stewart is discussing what he calls the "Double Walk of Shame."

"It's embarrassing enough to see someone walking home at 8 a.m. from a one-night stand, but to see someone make that same journey dressed as a wrinkled zebra?"

Stewart first cracked this joke last week on "The Daily Show." Just after 10 p.m. on a recent Wednesday night, he's telling it again.

This does not bode well for night owls.

The Comedy Central rerun is an instant effect of the writers strike that left every major late-night show without its snarky scribes. If history is any indication, this walkoff could last a loooong time: Hollywood writers previously went on strike in 1988... for 22 weeks.

How will late-night TV watchers make it through a potentially months-long spell without fresh offerings from Stewart, David Letterman, Jay Leno - and, if they stay up REALLY late, Conan O'Brien?

There's hope yet: A little late-night channel-surfing (away from the networks) turned up a few post-local news shows that offer more humor - intentional or not - than one might think.

• ABC's "Nightline": The trusty program - which goes up against Leno and Letterman - is likely thanking its lucky stars for the strike, which could generate viewers for its hard-hitting news segments.

• CNBC's "Mad Money": Motormouth host Jim Cramer brings a welcome dose of ADD to the business channel, dispensing financial advice and stock tips with the combustible passion of Al Pacino in "Any Given Sunday."

• Anything on MTV: The music-channel-that's-not-really-a-music-channel is always there when people need it - especially late at night. Its constantly rotating stable of addictive reality shows offer substance-free entertainment when thinking requires too much effort. On a recent night, viewers were treated to back-to-back episodes of "Run's House," "The Real World" and "The Hills."

• Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern": This guy will eat just about anything, which makes for irresistible viewing.

• The Sci-Fi Channel's "Ghost Hunters": Real-life ghostbusters investigate homes that people believe are haunted.

• "Hannah Montana": Don't judge. This Disney Channel sitcom, a favorite among tweens and maybe a few - ahem - adults, stars Miley Cyrus as a bubbly teen who secretly moonlights as the singing sensation Hannah Montana.

• Want more grown-up girl power? Click over to TBS, where sanitized reruns of "Sex and the City" appear several times a week. And late at night.