The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

I have to agree, Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show is the best talk show on TV, no contest. He makes me laugh out loud, even at that time of night. Johnny Carson made me laugh like that occasionally, but not regularly, as Craig does.

I first caught his show because Gerard Butler was to be a guest, as I would listen to Gerry read the telephone directory. That interview was the most fun interview of all time, anywhere, with those two guys together, my sides hurt from laughter.

I enjoy watching Craig with his other guests, too, but mostly because of Craig, himself, and his monologue is the best part of the show. It would be nice if he was on earlier so more people would catch his show, perhaps, but I will be there with bells on, no matter what time it is.

Thank you, Scotland - Again!

Upon a chance, I was awake at 1 in the morning, flipping through the channels. Let's see. Keeping Up With the Kardashians. No. Kitchen Nightmares. No. Jersey Shore. Hell no. Upon a chance, I flipped to CBS, and I saw Craig Ferguson for the first time. Within 30 seconds, I loved the man! Craig is easily the funniest late-night talk show host. Not because he has headlines, not because he has a top 10 list. Not because he has enough money to pay for an audience that will laugh at anything he says. He is the best because he is funny! There are certain kinds of funny. Self-deprecating, deadpan, satirical. Craig can be all of these, but instead, he is spontaneous. To add to that, he is genuine. Unlike many talk-show hosts, who should consider themselves lucky that they have a job at all, Craig knows that he is lucky he has a job, and this adds to his appeal. He is sincere and empathetic, as evinced when he refused to make fun of Britney Spears b/c he once had a drug addiction. Only Craig would do that, and only Craig could do that well. Craig's guests are also better by far. The show actually allows guests to open up and say what they want for eight minutes, no cue cards involved. Jay Leno: "So I hear you're from the United States?" David Letterman: "So I hear you're from the United States?" Craig Ferguson: "Have you ever explored bisexuality?" Only Craig could ask these questions so well, and only in that environment could guests answer honestly. I also applaud Craig for treating all guests equally. Unlike some talk-show hosts, who would offer special treatment to a Will Ferrell or a Julia Roberts, Craig accepts guests who in their field might be underrated or underutilized. No band either. No Kevin Eubanks or Paul "Parrot" Shaffer or Andy Richter. It's all Craig, and I love him for it. I will admit that Geoff can get a little repetitive, and double entendre's on the show are becoming kind of clichéd. In conclusion, I'll give the show a 9 out of 10. In truth, it should be a 10 out of 10, but nobody's perfect, and Craig plays that to perfection.

I find it frustrating and quite sad that CBS had the chance to follow on from Craig with another unique, intelligent and unpredictable host yet, instead, chose to follow the growing trend of dumbed down TV for the attention deficit, celebrity obsessed, "don't ask me to think" audience.

We have more than enough of this formulaic dross already. Frenzied audience, whooping and hollering with evangelical hysteria for no apparent reason. Check. Embarrassingly unfunny opening monologue. Check. Pointless house band. Check. Pre-recorded sketches with celebrities doing "hilarious" stuff to show us they are oh so self-effacing and down to earth (pre-approved by their publicists and lawyers of course). Check. The host fawning over the guests du jour with sycophantic waffle "I just loved your new movie/book/album", "You are a legend/my hero/EVERYBODY loves you" and my personal favourite "Just listen to them.." (wide camera shot of brain dead audience on their feet clapping,chanting, whooping, …) Check.

This latest offering is just more of the same; produced, packaged and tied in a neat little bow. Late night Fallon, Kimmel, Leno, Letterman and yes, I'm looking at you too, Ellen. There is enough day time and evening dumbed downed fluff to fill a pillow the size of the Atlantic. Could late night TV not at least try to be a haven for some sort of integrity? What are the advertisers afraid of? Do they think their particular brand of insomniac medicine dulls the senses that much? Corden, at least, takes proctology to new heights; with each and every star utterance he either guffaws like a demented banshee or gazes open mouthed like a teenager in love.

It is as pointless to compare this to Craig Ferguson's show as it is to compare "Twelve Angry Men" to "Fifty Shades of Grey". I am, however, reminded of one scene from the former LLS. The opening sequence, Craig and Secretariat, their faces mere inches from the camera, both just staring wide eyed. Seconds pass. Nothing happens. Finally Craig says "We're seeing who blinks first". Pointless, infantile, laugh out loud genius. Groucho Marx would have loved it. It will be interesting to see which, if any, of the networks blinks first.

Now that this show, starring Craig Ferguson, has run its course, I feel compelled to offer my opinion of this irreverent late night offering.

I don't know how or if Ferguson did research regarding the preferences of his audience, but it felt like he did. Viewers apparently responded to the wise-cracking skeleton robot called Geoff, so he became a regular, Ferguson's sidekick. Then he added Secretariat, the two guys in a horse suit, non-talking character that spent most of the show off to the side.

I loved those parts of the show. Apparently other viewers did too. And Ferguson knew it.

My other favorite thing about the show was the long list of "regulars", those guests who seemed to love being on the show--notably Kristen Bell--and responded well to the kookiness of Craig and his cohorts.

Ferguson's energy may have waned sometimes, but he (with Geoff) always indulged his wacky sense of humor, creating a long list of regular routines, like the monologue, his reading of viewer emails, the verbal "abuse" of the show's producer, and many many others.

Still, Ferguson never shied from serious conversations with his guests and sometimes indulged in philosophical discussions, displaying a broad understanding of the discipline.

His love of music, including the punk genre, was always part of the show, even when he and Geoff played with harmonicas.

Now that Ferguson has moved on, I feel an awkward pause in late night entertainment. I will miss the shenanigans.

Craig is probably one of the funniest guys on t.v. My friends and I all enjoy watching him. He is so cute and we never know what he's going to do next. My favorite characters he does are Prince Charles and Larry King. When those segments come on, I cry from laughing so hard. Many critics do not like Craig and I haven't figured out why. His show is much more entertaining than Kilborn was. Craig is also a very smart man, and he tries to play it off like he's stupid. It's actually the smart way to do it, look at Paris Hilton. OK, that was kind of mean. But anyways~ Craig always has a new "catchphrase". Cheeky wee monkey, naughty little donkey, strangely attractive pizza delivery boys, etc. I knew Craig from the Drew Carey Show but his talk show has inspired me to see some of his movies. The Big Tease and Life Without Dick are both hilarious. Saving Grace was an incredible movie. I believe Craig wrote and directed it. It was funny and moving and for the most part, believable. Besides, any movie about growing, smoking, and selling pot is always a classic.