In what world is a MIT physics professor a big talk show"get"? In the murky waters of the WGA strike, where some late night hosts are returning with their writing staffs, and others without.

The professor is YouTube star Walter H. G. Lewin, who makes physics fun with lively demonstrations; he also happened to be featured in the New York Times, so you know the logic path that followed in bookers' minds.

And if Jay Leno were to get him, that'd be just splendid — since David Letterman's arrangement for Late Night and Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show allows them to return with writers and the blessing of the Screen Actors Guild, which the Times reports "is explicitly directing its members — including every A-list movie and television star — to appear on the CBS shows."

Which isn't sitting well with the Lenos, O'Briens, Stewarts, Colberts, Dalys, and Kimmels of the world. Something about an unfair competitive advantage. Or a growing fear that Jay Leno by himself is, indeed, not funny. Shudder.