Wednesday, March 25, 2015

"The Late Late Show" with JAMES CORDEN

        It was a sad day for America when Craig Ferguson announced that he was stepping down from "The Late Late Show" by Christmas. Immediately a fiasco seemed to ensue, suddenly celebrity gossip columns buzzed about rumors of Letterman being responsible, of random people going to take over, and trying to make it into a Conan O'Brien type scandal.

       It was not a Conan O'Brien scandal. People who did not "get" Craig Ferguson's humor and who obviously had never watched the show before, reported about his bitterness and whoever Ferguson winked might be the next host. He was deliberately messing with the media.

       For many fans, they did not want to give James Corden a chance. Craig fan pages and websites buzzed with anti new guy hatred. They forget that once upon a time, Craig was an unknown in America, only famous for his role as Drew Carey's boss. He was pitted against other hosts and many did not believe he deserved the spot.

          James Corden had made a few guest appearances on "Doctor Who", a show many Craig Ferguson fans love, because of Craig's own love of the show, the tardis on his desk, as well as his former band member being the Doctor. So many fans were happy to hear that they could relate to Corden on some level.

      Yet the hate persisted on the Internet. Craig urged before he left, to give the new guy a chance. Corden appeared very jittery, nervous, and like a giggly schoolgirl when he first was introduced by Craig.

      After so many guest hosts and time away from Craig, perhaps it made it easier to watch James Corden take over.

       After all, the "new guy" was hilarious in his first episode.

He did a skit with many A-listers, including Tom Hanks, Mila Kunis, and Jay Leno.
 
      There were video montages.

There was jokes that did not fall flat. Which was a concern of many who thought maybe the British humor Americans would not "get", according to Piers Morgan.

      The band was OK, but there are mixed opinions there. Craig never had a band, but he isn't Craig. The band was liked by some and hated by others on Twitter.

        The set-up of the interview imitates many other British talk show hosts, such as Graham Norton's show. It's to be expected with a British guy taking over the show. Also, it seemed more free and open of an interview with the guests interacting with each other instead of the cold way many talk shows just talk to the host.
   
         It was less self obsession and more interaction. Interaction leads to hilarious outcomes in general. Johnny Carson used to do it more, and that has been an art lost somewhere.

        It was more fun than Seth Meyers in many ways. Which made me realize, as much as I love Seth, he is not the greatest host. I think he should take Colbert's old job.

What is apparent, with Colbert coming to replace Letterman, and if Corden keeps up the same level of hype (it will fall after a few episodes but, in general be more interesting), then CBS has a winner on their hands.