Now what late night talk show am I going to have to watch to see actors/actresses from Doctor Who interviewed? I don’t think I can recall seeing any of them anywhere on US TV except on Craig’s show…
There are a finite number of interesting guests available for all of them and they only have so much to say on the programs. After a certain point, they are all recycling the same dull Hollywood type who is there to smile stiffly, laugh unconvincingly and plug their latest project.
From the 1950s to about the mid 1980s when it was difficult for people to see their favorite performers in many places, talk shows, especially late night one served a purpose. Now with a 24-hour news cycle, 200+ channels on US television and the Internet, there are simply too many venues for too few unique celebrities.
The genre is slowly ebbing and it seems that Ferguson knows this. He is simply abandoning the ship while it’s listing and before it actually begins to sink.
Here is Craig announcing his departure on his show. Stick around for a little while and you get to hear Geoff do impressions of a bunch of other late night hosts. It also kind of sounds like they’re laying the groundwork for Geoff’s voice actor (Josh Robert Thompson) to appear as himself instead of just operating the robot, but maybe I missed something.
One of the best things about Colbert and Ferguson and Stewart is that they fish outside that pool as often as they can and get writers and scientists and policy experts.
Nah…It’s Istanbul. Not Constantinople.
I will miss him. He seemed genuinely funny in an unscripted way, which was refreshing. Of all of the late night talk shows that I never got around to watching, his was the best. 
I see no reason to not believe him. He seems to be very honest and would say nothing rather than lie.
Rumors are flying that James Corden may replace Craig. I’m mainly familiar with him from Doctor Who, where he played a regular guy who the Doctor moved in with.
I like the way Craig and Geoffrey Peterson appear to ad lib at times.
Personally I much prefer that style to the Letterman style which, while it has its merits, seems to me to be scripted down to the level of the timing and use of every gesture and facial tic, which makes it seem contrived and dull at least to me.
I don’t know if Craig is actually ad libbing, but at least it seems like it.
Seeing that he was around Drew Carey and Ryan Stiles for 9 years, I wouldn’t be surprised if he does ad lib.
He definitely is.
During his monologue he has bullet points and prepared material on his autocue, and you can tell when he isn’t ad libbing if he glances at the camera and reads. e.g. when he and Geoff list parody movie titles on a theme, or the series of “it’s so hot…” jokes.
I also think there are a couple of writers sitting next to Josh Robert Thompson handing him occasional things for Geoff to say during the monologue. But there’s loads of off-script ad libbing during that segment, and the rest of the show is also pretty much entirely off the cuff, even if repeating ideas from earlier episodes.
Wow. I cannot picture James Cordon as a chat host. I know him from History Boys but mostly from Gavin and Stacey, where he was both co-writer and co-star (well, it was supposed to be a supporting role, but as the series progressed, his role–and that of his fellow co-writer, Ruth Jones–grew to be the emotional heart of the show).
I believe his sketch show with fellow G&S mate Matthew Horne was poorly reviewed. On the UK comedy board I follow, this news is being met with great derision, as well as some anti-US snark (“Oh they’ll probably love him over there!”), which I can’t say isn’t well-earned. They mock us brutally for being taken by Ricky Gervais’s shameless sentimental pap show Derek.
Anyway, with Cordon… I think he does have charm, I just don’t know if he’s the sort who can listen and interview without taking over. Very strange choice when there are several better-known options. (Joel McHale would’ve seemed a natural, for example.)
I don’t watch enough Colbert and Ferguson to comment, but definitely true for Stewart. Lots of thinking people, with whom he has real discussions. It’s one of the reasons The Daily Show is so much more than just comedy. Bill Maher does the same, but with enough time to get into a lot more depth; between the opening monologue and the “New Rules” closing bit, that’s the entire show.
Perhaps so; what’s interesting is that he repeatedly claims he had absolutely no interest in taking over from Letterman, but when asked about the rumored contract clause that paid him millions if he wasn’t picked to replace Letterman, he went the “say nothing” route. Make of it what you will. I didn’t watch Ferguson much just because I don’t normally watch much TV in general, but when I did I quite liked him.
This was the best IMO…
The lost “Dr. Who” cold open.
If it had been aired, at the last moment it was found that they did not had the rights to air the Dr Who music so the cold opening was the same crew of the clip looking sad and Craig Ferguson threatening to use the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver on the nuts of the staff of the show that missed that issue.
IIUC the clip was aired later after a public campaign demanded it.
Might have been a great ploy to get cash if he knew that he’d never get offered the Letterman gig. If that’s the case, would have been funny if CBS called his bluff.
I loved Craig Fergusen back when he was doing wacky music skits and using puppets and all that creative stuff. But for the last couple of years it’s pretty clear that he’s been phoning it it.
In his autobiography he said that originally he didn’t even want the show at first, and that he didn’t want to be in a straightjacket created by a fixed formula or daily routine. He was worried that he’d get bored with it very quickly. I think he lasted longer than he thought he would, but the restlessness eventually caught up with him.
I’ve always enjoyed Craig Ferguson as a host, but since he’s reported that he was leaving late night the shows have been even more hilarious.
He and Geoff (the guy doing Geoff’s Morgan Freeman and Jay Leno Fly are great!) riffing are worth tuning in.
I cackle. I’m a cackler.
I’m not proud of that.
He also has some guests that might not get on other talk shows and that is fun. Some have seen his show. Some haven’t. Some enjoy his stuff he like doing now where he pretends to be a therapist.
His show gives me the giggles.
Also–he had the two guest lineup that IF I HAD BOOKED A SHOW, (ahem, sorry, I was very excited) I would’ve booked. And neither my mother nor The Fella could guess the two.
Stephen Fry and Matt smith?
looks like he’ll have a new talkshow after all. guess he’s not quite done summoning Paul McCartney’s photo yet.