I wonder if he wants an 11:30 slot on Comedy Central instead.
I never watched his show, but from the link, it sounds like he could it in there, with a different enough angle to stand apart still.
Meh.
I have seen a grand total of four of his programs in total and the genre itself (late night television) is coming to its organic end. It’s better that he leave now rather than hang around while programs like his slowly descend into darkness.
Leave while you are on or near the top.
I thought Craig was great his first couple of years but he eventually settled into a repetitive rut. It kind of felt like he was trying to appeal to drunks and dopers too wasted to notice they were watching the same routines every night. Granted, I haven’t watched him lately, perhaps things have changed, but I rather doubt it.
There have been rumors CBS wants to give the show to Chelsea Handler (they would probably make more money that way), so I’m not surprised. I did kind of feel lately that he’d lost some interest in what he was doing. He always had on and off periods, but it felt more prolonged late last year or early this year, so I finally stopped watching. I got into the show in 2008 and I felt he was a unique voice on talk shows: he really didn’t care about the showbiz stuff and just wanted to talk to interesting people, and his shows with Desmond Tutu or Stephen Fry were great. If anything I wish he’d done that more often. But I really enjoyed Craig and Geoff together.
I agree. I record him occasionally when he has a guest I want to see and it’s exactly the same every time. I would say that he obviously became sick of doing the same thing every night but that doesn’t explain why he does the same thing every night.
Too bad. He was fresh and original in a way that Seth Meyers can’t comprehend.
You’re right. After this it can only be downhill.
This was my favorite opening he’s done.
Marley mentioned the Stephen Frye episode. I assume he meant the one which he did as an homage to Tom Snyder. I loved that episode. Very few people on late night are smart and quick witted enough to pull off that format, and Ferguson nailed it.
I would love to see Craig abandon the studio audience stuff altogether, and do a straight talk show where he could sit down with someone interesting and do a half hour just chatting with them. Like a Charlie Rose kind of show, only with a bit funnier.
Craig was the only late night comedian I ever really enjoyed on any of the networks. Letterman was ok, but not nearly as interesting. Never liked Kimmel or Leno. Conan was dreadful.
I haven’t watched him in a long time though, but not because he was unfunny. I just lost interest in that format in general. Sad that he’s going for good.
Yes. But I thought I remember a couple of other extended chats with Fry.
Ah crud. I always liked Ferguson and his view on the late night talk show.
Probably. Ferguson and Fry are good friends.
I don’t know if the genre is dying but man is it overcrowded.
Such a shame. This is the only show I watch live when it airs (It plays in Australia just a few hours after the US).
I think he wanted to do some really creative things with the show, but was constantly thwarted by unreasonable restrictions and an unfairly low budget. He appeared to have the smallest budgets of the contemporaries in his slot. Just having Josh Robert Thompson on staff permanently, as Geoff Peterson, meant money had to be funnelled from elsewhere, limiting him even further (that seemed to be when the sketches and interstitials dried up).
He also constantly railed against not having a live band, or being bleeped for cursing, something that’s allowed on UK TV at that time of night. I can understand the frustration that must have been building, and if there was no relief from it planned, if they couldn’t give him more money or freedom to do the things he wanted, then it’s no wonder he’s walking.
Ironically, he’s being replaced by Craig Kilborne.
Now cut that out!
I think that, once he got tired of the puppets, he had a while where he came up with new stuff with Geoff and Secretariat, but, yeah, he did seem to actually get stuck in a rut. And he’s always said that, if he couldn’t think of anything new to do and the show stopped being fun for him, he’d quit.
I do wonder if he was holding out for the Late Show, as that might have given him something new.
I don’t think he really wanted The Late Show, nor do I think CBS would have really considered him for the job. He just would’ve had to change his act too much and I don’t think he appealed to the audience they want. On the other hand he’s getting a really nice chunk of change in return for not being given a job he never would have received and probably wasn’t that interested in anyway. That’s good negotiating!
Yeah, holding out just to get the money would make more sense.