The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn

Craig Kilborn seems to have a habit of taking a job, putting his style to it and then moving on to something new. He did it on ESPN's "Sportscenter." He did it again at Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," and he did it with this, his CBS Late Night talk fest.

To really understand what went on with this program, you have to know the history. Go back to the remarkable HBO series, "The Larry Sanders Show," where Garry Shandling played a self-absorbed emcee. At a crucial point, the fictional Sanders was looking for someone to host a program after his and the name he came up with was Tom Snyder. In a "life imitates art" moment, David Letterman brought Snyder in to host "The Late Late Show." Where Snyder was innovative and cutting-edge in the 1970s and 80s, his delivery and selection of guests for the late 90s were more conducive to a mid morning deadly dull radio program, and people were quick to tune out.

Meanwhile, Kilborn was building a reputation as an amusing character, doing interviews on "The Daily Show" and introducing his "Five Questions" quiz of guest celebrities there. When it was time to replace Snyder, Letterman plucked Kilborn from his Comedy Central job and installed him at the 12:30am slot. Craig's arrival at CBS may have surprised some, but it was clear that he was ready for this next step in his career. In early 1999, Kilborn signed on, with almost no fanfare whatsoever.

The critics didn't seem to get what Kilborn was attempting to do with the genre at first, and branded him a smarmy frat boy early on in his run. He was, in fact, probably the most underrated host in the history of late night television.

His set looked like an erudite bachelor's lair, with wood tones, a fully stocked bookcase, overstuffed and distressed warm leather chairs, a bar cart and a sound system where he could play the stylish music of Sergio Mendes, Antonio Carlos Jobim or sample the hits of a performer on the program. There was also a "windowseat," to which he brought several female guests to do some canoodling, most famously, Catherine Zeta-Jones.

When he was not figuratively or literally kissing up to his guests, the host of the show was clearly trying to do something a little different from other late night talkers. His affirmational concepts including his catchphrase, "Proud of you," were a constant, and he had a metrosexual air, even before that term became part of the vernacular. His attempt to bring back the Ascot was only one in a series of style choices, and he was typically well groomed, keeping a hand mirror as one of the props on his over-sized Bavarian Oak desk.

His heroes were the stars of Old Hollywood and 1960s teevee, and many made semi-regular appearances on the program. His "Tuesdays With Buddy" segment featured Borscht Belt favorite Buddy Hackett. Adam West, William Shatner and Merv Griffin all paid visits, and his final show featured a taped segment with famed producer Robert Evans. Also notable were the seemingly never ending parade of supermodels and starlets that visited, which gave Kilborn a chance to show off his boyish charm and Midwestern homespun manners.

Perhaps the most historic moment for the show came when, with the sponsorship help of Coca-Cola, they took the program on the road to the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four in 2003. A week in New Orleans was the first and only road trip for the program, and featured a segment where the modest Kilborn wandered around the French Quarter imploring women to keep their tops on, and permitted him the opportunity to show off some of his basketball prowess, since he was a member of his college team.

Kilborn had a taste of success with acting during the run of the program, including a well-received appearance in the big screen "slob" comedy "Old School," and that might have sealed the show's fate. He realized that he wanted to do something more, and hosting the program meant he would be tied to that desk, unable to continue to grow. He shocked many people (including some CBS execs and industry insiders) by leaving the program on August 27, 2004, a decision that was only made public a few weeks before his departure.

Many of the show's staff remained in place through the guest host trials that followed Kilborn's exit, and many stayed on for the program's ensuing incarnation: "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson."

The Kilborn show was funny, topical, and had ironic class. I miss it a lot. Neither Ferguson or Conan are as good. Also, this was one of the few shows that captured a little bit of 80s nostalgia from someone of the "right" age. Mostly people who came of age in the 80s are skipped over, the media marketing went right from the baby boomers to generation Y and Z. Face it folks, gen x is in their 40s and we didn't even get a t-shirt.

Maybe, it's misplaced, but I kind of felt like this was "our" show and that there will never be another. Look at all those great early 80s bands he brought back-- and he understood them. I hope we get a DVD collection of the Kilborn show with some of his Daily Show material thrown in, too.

This show got off to a faltering start, but now, after close to two years on the air, I daresay "Craiggers" is developing something of a loyal following. His 12:30 counterpart, Conan O'Brien, probably possesses a greater wit, but the smarmy, irreverent Kilborn has harnessed that particular undefinable quality that makes for a funny late-night talk show. Mixing David Letterman's "ironic detachment" with deliberately lowbrow gags, quirky features like "5 Questions", "Yambo" and "In the News" (a carryover from the host's tenure with 'The Daily Show'), The Late Late Show has become quite funny and certain appeals to the 18-35 demographic... you'll be chagrined when you find yourself laughing at "The Ewok Guy" and goofs like "Craig Says The Wrong Thing To The Fish and Game Warden."

Well, I've finished watching Craiggers' last episode. I used to be an avid watcher of his program when he first aired in 1999- mainly due to the fact that I was a fan of his work on The Daily Show and also of The Late Late Show's previous host, Tom Snyder (so the match-up of timeslot and host at that point was seemingly perfect for me.) As time went on, as fewer and fewer a-list actors appeared on the show, I began flipping over to Conan to see some of his irreverent comedy. However, if for some reason Conan wasn't delivering the goods, the TV went straight back to Kilby.

Craig Kilborn and his writers had a certain unique style when it came to presenting the show that usually engaged the viewers in a more intimate give-and-take with the show. It never tried to be the biggest show in its slot- it made do with the audience who stuck with him and who weren't too thrilled by Triumph the insult comic dog, or later by Jimmy Kimmel's brand of comedy. It was low-key, moderately higher-class humour than his competitors. It was late night comedy at its simplest- no sidekicks, no house band. And I gotta admit that the show did have one of the most comfortable-looking sets.

The show followed a generally regular pattern:

First, there is Craig's monologue. While the monologue was usually lukewarm at best for delivering the laughs (mainly due to Kilborn's horrible timing and rhythm of presenting punchlines), his "desk chat" sketches like A Moment for Us and the 90-second-zoom were always very kitchy and enjoyable. The "In the News" segment gave viewers a micro-version of his Daily Show routine, which were usually hilarious.

Then the guests arrived after the commercial break. Now, Kilborn's interviewing skills seem to have deteriorated after the Daily Show, because it always seems that he is not interested about who he's interviewing with, and subconsciously conveys that not only to the interviewee, but more importantly the audience. That, unfortunately, gives people the impression that Craig is some sort of jerk at times. However, one of the key jewels in the show's 5 year history has to be the 5 Questions game he plays almost every night with one of his guests. I consider it fascinating how some of his guests react. Some play along (like Sir Ian MacKellen's dramatic reading of tire changing instructions). Others seem non-chalant and don't really care how well they do- they just want to get out of the studio so that they can go on to the next PR gig.

All in all, though, the show somehow exuded a sense of nonchalantness to the whole Late Night show idea- it did whatever it wanted to do and had the most fun in doing so. And in that sort of attitude is where it managed to find its niche. People considered that sort of devil-may-care look at its place in the television listings as cool, while others may have seen it as careless.

However it was, it's all over now. Craig has decided to pack up and try out something new- and at a time when he was still somewhat strong in the ratings. Maybe next time he'll have some more decent writers back up his next endeavour. Maybe he'll just disappear into obscurity- where people won't even remember that his show was on the air at all. Whatever it may be, I wish him the best. His show was indeed an interesting alternative to the normal method of delivering a late night television program, and there won't be another show like it. And I, for one and probably only one, will miss that. I'm glad, though, that Craig ended his last show doing what he loves- and that is to dance, dance, dance.

CBS and Worldwide Pants now have the arduous task of finding out what's next for this little show after Letterman. Will it be the return of the one-on-one interview in the style of Snyder? Will it be more irreverent in order to get Conan's audience? Will it be something completely different that no one has seen before? Who knows (at the time of this writing)? All I know is that it has to be good in order to retain the Kilborn audience at the least. Best of luck to them.

Craig Kilborn always puts a smile on my face when I'm up late enough to see him. If you find yourself up late, I highly recommend watching this show. Unlike late night show hosts on other networks, Craig Kilborn has a personality and is easy to relate to. He looks and talks like someone I would actually know in everyday life. One of the best parts of the show is a skit called "What Up?". They don't do it every night but I wish they did. I've also discovered some good musical groups that have made guest appearances on the show. If you find Conan as hideous and unimaginative as I do, check out Craig Kilbourn for a refreshing change of pace.