The Bottom Line
Pros
- Watches like a Scottish-import
- Unique style in familiar format
- Bawdy and silly
- Dave Foley
- Tim Meadows
Cons
- Ferguson a relative unknown
- Guests a bit D-list
Description
- Airs Monday through Friday at 1:30 a.m. EST on CBS
- Tom Snyder hosted the first edition of The Late Late Show in 1995.
- David Letterman, a fan of Snyder, produced The Late Late Show and hired Snyder as host.
- Craig Kilborn took over the show in March 1999 after leaving The Daily Show.
- Kilborn carried over some of his Daily Show comedy bits, specifically “In The News.”
- During the second host transition, guest hosts “tried out”, including comedian D. L. Hughley.
- Saturday Night Live alum Tim Meadows and Kids In The Hall alum Dave Foley are featured actors.
- After a heartfelt eulogy to his father aired, Ferguson was featured in Men’s Health magazine.
Guide Review - verview: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Like every good Clevelander, I’m a Drew Carey fan, so I was a bit intrigued when I discovered The Drew Carey Show regular Craig Ferguson had been awarded the host slot on The Late Late Show after Craig Kilborn’s August 2004 departure.
I was unsure of Ferguson’s talk show chops. He’s a fine comedian, one of my favorites. But work as a talk show host requires a certain panache that many do not have. In other words, funny is a requirement, not a definition of the job.
I’ve been more than pleasantly surprised. Not only is Ferguson a competent host, conducting interviews with the interest and aplomb some hosts still have not mastered, he’s made the humor on the show his own. Impersonations and skits litter the program, all of them twisted in that wonderful “cross-the-pond” way. Michael Palin and Billy Connelly would feel right at home.
The format is traditional, though Ferguson has tweaked the parts. His monologue is more a storytelling session than a series of one-liners. And rather than a traditional theme song, Ferguson, a one-time punk rock drummer, concocted his own.
