The Late Late Show (CBS TV series)

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For The Late Late Show shown in Ireland, see The Late Late Show.

The Late Late Show

Genre	Talk show, variety show
Creator(s)	none credited
Starring	Craig Ferguson (2004–present) Craig Kilborn (1999–2004) Tom Snyder (1995–1999)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	unknown
Production
Running time	60 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	January 9, 1995 – present
Links
Official website

The Late Late Show is an American late-night television talk and variety show currently hosted by Craig Ferguson on CBS. It immediately follows The Late Show with David Letterman and is produced by Letterman's Worldwide Pants Incorporated in CBS Television City. The program dates to 1995, and has had three permanent hosts.

Occasionally, the show is split into two 15 and 45 minute segments when CBS airs a daily late night highlight show for either The Masters, other PGA Tour events with rights owned by CBS, or tennis' U.S. Open. The show then has a monologue to start, followed by sports highlights, and then the guest segments.

1 Hosts
2 Snyder
3 Kilborn
4 Transition
5 Ferguson
6 External links

[edit] Hosts

Host	From	To
Tom Snyder	January 9, 1995	March 26, 1999
Craig Kilborn	March 30, 1999	August 27, 2004
Craig Ferguson	January 3, 2005	Present

[edit] Snyder

Tom Snyder

Tom Snyder hosted the program from its inception in January 1995 until March of 1999. The choice of Snyder as host was apparently made by David Letterman, whose contract with CBS gave him the power to produce the show in the timeslot immediately after his own program.

Letterman and Snyder had a long history together: a 1978 Tomorrow episode hosted by Snyder was almost exclusively devoted to a long interview with up-and-coming new comedy talents Letterman, Billy Crystal and Merrill Markoe. And in 1982, when The Tomorrow Show was cancelled by NBC, Letterman took over Snyder's timeslot with his own NBC show Late Night with David Letterman. Because of this, some have speculated that Letterman simply wanted to give Snyder -- whom he had long idolized -- another chance in the late night arena, as a sort of repayment of an old debt.

Snyder's show featured a mix of celebrities, politicians and other newsmakers, but was otherwise quite unlike the program hosted by his boss Letterman. Snyder was a former newsman, not a comedian, and his show featured an intimate interview format with no studio audience present, similar to his old Tomorrow show of the 1970s, or to the then-current Charlie Rose show. Throughout most of the show's run, it was also simulcast over some CBS Radio stations, and Snyder accepted calls from viewers/listeners somewhat in the manner of Larry King.

Snyder's trademarks included:

Frequent informal kibitzing with the show's offstage crew.
His opening remarks, which were delivered while sitting in a chair, and usually told of his adventures earlier in the day while doing everyday mundane things like buying groceries or driving to work.
Just before the first commercial break, Snyder always invited viewers to "fire up the colortinis and watch the pictures as they fly through the air." A "colortini" was an imaginary drink, rather like a martini, that Snyder felt viewers should enjoy while watching the show. Later, in reference to the radio/TV simulcast of his show, Snyder would often substitute "simultini" for "colortini".

Snyder was originally scheduled to broadcast his last Late Late Show on March 19, 1999. However, his replacement Craig Kilborn was still working out the kinks in the new show's format, so the 62-year-old Snyder amiably agreed to 'help out the new guy' by filling in for another week before leaving the show.

[edit] Kilborn

When Snyder announced he was leaving, the show was reformated to resemble Letterman and other major late-night talk programs. Craig Kilborn took over in March 1999, having left The Daily Show to become the new Late Late Show host.

When Kilborn was on the show, it began with a full moon wavering behind gray stratus clouds on the screen to the tuning of an orchestra, while the announcer, the recorded, modulated voice of Kilborn himself, blurted out, "From the gorgeous, gorgeous Hollywood Hills in sunny California, it's your Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. Tonight [...]", and then the guests were announced with the show's theme song composed by Neil Finn. Then Kilborn was presented, "Ladies and gentlemen, *pause* Mister Craig Kilborn", with the 1970s disco band Wild Cherry song Play That Funky Music.

After Kilborn's stand-up monologue, he walked to his "Bavarian oak desk" while Finn's theme song continued playing with the chorus "The Late Late Show is starting. The Late Late Show is starting." The "Desk Chat" was said to be Craig's favorite part of the show.

During later seasons, the open consisted of shots of various Los Angeles hotspots is accompanied by a new theme song performed and written by Chris Isaak. For this new theme song, Kilborn would be played to the desk with a chorus of "The Late Late Show is starting".

Segments included:

In the News
What Up?, a Friday segment where Kilborn and three other panelists discussed and joked about the news; included a guest, and the director of the program, Mike Gibbons, who was introduced by Kilborn as "[One] of the brightest minds in show business", and, then, staff writer Goldie, "He was the art editor of his high school newspaper." Each panelist, in turn, greeted, "What up, Craig?" This segment was a rip-off of the popular ESPN show Around the Horn.
Alex, the Disgruntled Old Page, a bad-tempered page acted by one of Kilborn's staff members, who thought his private thoughts "aloud", unintentionally.
Sebastian, the Asexual Icon
To Blank with Love; Kilborn dedicated verses to different people and things
Five Questions; Kilborn asked a geography question, a "blank" question where the guest had to fill a blank with a word related to the guest, a "Now think of other one" question in which the guest had to guess what Kilborn had in mind. This segment was a holdover from Kilborn's previous job as the host of The Daily Show.
Tuesdays with Buddy, with Buddy Hackett
Clippings That Tickle Your Funny Bone - "They're Funny!"
a movie poster review segment
A Recreation of a Press Photo
Yambo, an elimination game between two guests
Craig Kilborn, Man of 537 Faces
Commentary with Mike Greyson in which a sports opinionist with a negative take on society, sports, and culture discusses how everything "sucks" or is a "debacle" much to the delight of the audience.
A Late Late Show Do-Over
a dance segment in which Kilborn said, "All I wanna do is dance, dance, dance" while looking into three different cameras (Another Daily Show holdover.)

Kilborn left the program on August 27, 2004, following negotiations which ended unexpectedly when he opted not to renew his contract.

[edit] Transition

Subsequent new shows featured guest hosts, culminating in week-long showcases for four finalists: Craig Ferguson, D. L. Hughley, Damien Fahey and Michael Ian Black. It was announced on December 7, 2004 that Ferguson, a Scottish comedian best known from his role as Mr. Wick on The Drew Carey Show, was to become Kilborn's permanent replacement. A Chicago Sun-Times television critic reported that Letterman made the decision.

[edit] Ferguson

Craig Ferguson, current host of the Late Late Show on CBS.

Ferguson's first show as permanent host aired January 3, 2005. Ferguson, who introduces himself as "TV's Craig Ferguson", spent the show's first few months tailoring the show to his own style. He opens the show with a (relatively) long monologue (10 to 15 minutes) consisting of a single topic that weaves its way through each joke (similar to a stand-up comedy routine), rather than the typical list of unrelated one-liners or that day's various headlines. Occasionally, there will be story arcs for several days, such as "Flu Watch: 2005" and his successful ambition to be cast as "Fisherman #1" (formerly Fisherman #2) in the made-for-TV movie Vampire Bats (which aired Sunday, October 30, 2005). His reformed "blackout drinking" and his two divorces are often used as fodder for his humor.

[edit] Regular segments

Current (2006) regular segments include

Answering e-mails sent by viewers (for comedy, Craig usually provides an obviously fake e-mail address, such as Craig@the Internet/Jeeves/Google/Hotmail.com, which changes constantly)
Writing letters with a quill to various people (examples: to his boss (David Letterman) asking for a raise, to President Bush asking for a copy of a telephone conversation, and to Donald Trump about his argument with Martha Stewart)
Interviews, impersonations, and skits (often played by Ferguson in costume) done in front of a green screen (used to project computerized images)
Soap opera-style showdowns with actor Dan McVicar
Accessing his voice-mails through a several-dozen digit extension. These usually contain either embarrassing messages or complaints, both of which he dismisses to the audience as being from "one of those... telemarke'ers."
Field reports from correspondent Tim Meadows in which it is revealed that Meadows did not complete or seriously botched his assignment
A lesson from "expert" Dave Foley on numerous subjects that he is obviously not an expert on
Craig "getting his freak on" (dancing) during commercial breaks.
Mock interviews and/or press conferences with George W. Bush impressionist James Adomian
A segment has featured clips of United States Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a news conference with a second pair of hands added, performing various activities to occupy himself while being questioned, such as sorting a deck of cards and folding paper.
Access Extratainment Tonight, a parody of Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, and Extra with Ferguson playing host "Barney Slash".
The Rather Late Programme with Prince Charles, with Ferguson (wearing a comb over wig, oversized ears and jagged prosthetic teeth) playing Prince Charles, "the King of Late Night Television."
Sean Connery's This Day In History / A Sean Connery Holiday Memory, where Sean Connery (played by Ferguson) recounts an event that happened to him on this day (or holiday season) however many years ago.

Other impersonations frequently done by Ferguson on the show include Michael Caine, Dr. Phil, Larry King, Kim Jong Il, and Mick Jagger.

[edit] Sound effects

When the show returns from the commercials, Ferguson welcomes back the audience, calling them "[personality trait][size][animal]s" (examples: "cheeky wee monkeys", "frisky little ponies") and then pressing a sound button on his effects box, such as a monkey or (most often) a whip sound. He has an entire battery of goofy sound effects, some of which are accompanied by lighting cues. This box, as Craig explained in answer to an email (see above) is one-of-a-kind, made specially for him "by elves." It is actually an Instant Replay audio sampler made by 360 Systems.

A partial list of sound effects the box can produce:

Whip crack
"Performance enhanced" whip crack, featuring the sound of the whip being whirled around a bit first
Woman moaning
Woman screaming
Sheep
A sound Craig has identified with pandas
Cheesy lounge music

Sometimes Ferguson ends the show by pressing the moo sound button, stating "That's the Cow of Time. We're out of time. Goodnight everybody."

[edit] Bob Barker

Another running gag (materializing gradually over the course of several months in the summer of 2006, and otherwise a cross-promotion for another CBS show) was Craig going out of his way to pick on fellow CBS show host Bob Barker (who, he eventually concluded, was a vampire). At the end of each Bob-bashing segment he would chuckle to himself and say that "Bob Barker is going to kick my ass one of these days!" The inside joke is that The Late Late Show sometimes has trouble filling the studio audience, so audience from the day's earlier taping of The Price is Right (on the floor below) are invited to stay. The climax was reached on July 15, 2006, when Bob, flanked by the rest of The Price is Right's staff, including announcer Rich Fields and some of Barker's Beauties, staged a "surprise" visit. This was the last show before a long-planned replacement of the set. Although Bob did not kick Craig's ass, he did do some serious damage to his desk with a single blow. The desk was later totally destroyed by the models, and Craig returned, after the commercial break, with a card table covered by a checkered picnic cloth. The episode ended with Craig helping the episode's musical guests, Family Force 5, completely trash the set.

A new set was built for the show over the course of a week of reruns, and debuted on the July 24, 2006 episode. It featured several new additions - such as a miniature CBS dirigible that floats along over the painted city - and a flickering light that, as promised by Craig, was fixed the following day.

[edit] Other Show Elements

The opening theme for the show was dropped after Kilborn left. When Ferguson was hired as the full-time replacement, he co-wrote a new theme song, which he sings. Starting on July 7th, 2006, the show's opening was time-cropped and featured only the ending of the song. The lyrics of the song are: "It's hard to stay up/It's been a long, long day/And you got the sandman at the door/But hang on/Leave the TV on/And let's do it anyway/It's OK/You can always sleep through work tomorrow, OK?/Hey, hey, tomorrow's just a future yesterday ..."

For logistical reasons, the musical segment—shown towards the end of the program—is often taped first. The instruments are setup on stage allowing the band to reherse. The studio audience is brought in, the musical segment is taped, and the then the stage is reset for the show opening (mostly empty—not even the chairs for the guests). When Craig "throws it" to the band later, they actually aren't there—a fact sometimes revealed during a wide shot at show close. When the interview segment runs long and the musical guest is "invited back," they merely roll the tape the next day. This process also allows the musical segment to end right on time, since they know in advance exactly how long it runs.

The opening monologue is called "Show and Tell." While outlined in advance, it is not completely scripted. Much of it is improvisational.

Following Show and Tell, there is often a comedy sketch with Craig in costume. While the transition appears quick when the program airs, in fact taping is paused for a few minutes to allow for set and wardrobe changes.

On January 30, 2006, Ferguson showed the more serious side of his personality by turning his opening monologue into a eulogy for his father who died the day before. Ferguson was nominated for his first Emmy for this episode.

[edit] YouTube and subsequent ratings increase

In 2006, clips of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson began appearing on the video website YouTube. Subsequently, Ferguson's ratings "grew 7 percent (or 100,000 viewers)." [1] [2]

[edit] External links

Late night talk and comedy shows in the U.S.
CBS: Late Show \| Late Late Show
NBC: Tonight Show \| Late Night \| Last Call \| SNL
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live
Fox: MADtv \| Talkshow
Fox News: Red Eye
Comedy Central: Daily Show \| Colbert Report
HBO: Real Time

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