Following a five-month hiatus due to the recently resolved writers' strike, late-night TV talk shows returned to the air waves Monday with a lot of lost time to make up for -- and funny jokes to tell.

The Writers Guild of America agreed last week to a three-year contract with an alliance of the entertainment industry's top studios, streaming services and production companies, allowing late-night talk show hosts to go back to work. The time off gave writers plenty of joke ammo against politicians and stars.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" featured a cold open with the host lying on a sofa and describing his five-month nightmare to a therapist who turned out to be Arnold Schwarzenegger. Kimmel then took the stage in the middle of a pickleball match.

"Apparently while we were gone they've been renting our studio out as a pickleball court," Kimmel quipped. "Sorry guys, you've got to go ... but try James Corden's studio. He moved to England."

"The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" celebrated the long-awaited return with a recap of the "Crazy Summer, Part I". The segment is expected to continue this week to catch up for lost humor.

"Obviously it would be stupid to try to recap everything that happened over the past five months ... so here we go," said Colbert, launching tirades against everything from "Barbenheimer" to Donald Trump indictments.

"There's nothing in the rule book that says a convict can't be president, so if he wins he might be able to veto bills from Cellblock A. I'm sure you're asking, 'How would he even get the veto pen in there?' Let's just say on visitation days that Eric will be walking funny."

"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" joined in on "Swifty Fever" with jokes about Taylor Swift's back-to-back appearances at NFL games to cheer on new boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

"If you took a drink every time they showed Taylor on TV, you're in your Hangover Era," Fallon said. "Ironically, to get tickets Taylor had to spend six hours on the phone with TicketMaster."

"Late Night With Seth Myers" opened his monologue with a long list of thank-yous to his writers before earning some groans over an ageist joke aimed at 80-year-old President Joe Biden.

"President Biden last week became the first modern president to join striking workers on the picket line," Myers said, "and man was he excited to be referred to as 'modern'."