The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airing from January 3, 2005, to December 19, 2014. It followed the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' in the CBS late-night lineup, airing weekdays in the U.S. at 12:37 a.m. Taped in front of a live studio audience from Monday to Thursday (with two episodes taped on Thursdays) at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California, directly above the Bob Barker Studio (Studio 33), it was produced by David Letterman's production company Worldwide Pants Incorporated and CBS Television Studios.

The ''Late Late Show'' franchise had previously aired as ''The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder'', then as ''The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn''. During the late 2004 transition of guest hosts following Craig Kilborn's departure, Craig Ferguson hosted a series of shows in October and November 2004, culminating in being announced on December 7, 2004, as the pick for new host. After launching ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' on January 3, 2005, Craig Ferguson achieved the highest ratings since the show's inception in 1995. While quirky comedy was emphasized in the majority of the episodes, Ferguson also addressed difficult subject matters, such as the deaths of his parents, his struggles with alcoholism, and commenting on national tragedies such as the September 11 attacks. Ferguson undertook serious interviews, such as one with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, which earned the show a 2009 Peabody Award.

Despite not initially having a sidekick, comedian and voice actor Josh Robert Thompson joined the show on April 5, 2010, and voiced Craig's sidekick Geoff Peterson, a robotic human skeleton. Often Geoff is referred to as a "robot skeleton", "gay skeleton robot" or "gay robot skeleton". Geoff is a radio-controlled animatronic robotic puppet skeleton with a metallic Mohawk hairstyle; he was designed and built by Grant Imahara of the TV show ''MythBusters''. Geoff stayed as Craig's sidekick until the show's finale, after which Craig took Geoff home. Once Thompson began voicing Geoff Peterson, the format of the ''Late Late Show'' shifted from a more traditional formula (albeit with Ferguson's subversive humor) to a more loose, stripped-down and semi-improvisational comedy style in which Ferguson and Peterson would riff on various topics, often discarding prepared material and going over time limits.

On April 28, 2014, Ferguson announced that he was ending the show at the end of the year. The last episode aired on December 19, 2014. Afterwards, ''Late Late Show'' began a series of episodes with guest hosts; then the new permanent host James Corden began his iteration of the franchise on March 23, 2015.

Show format

The show often started with a cold opening which consisted of a short improvised monologue or commentary by Ferguson either as himself or involving his various puppets including Sid the Rabbit. Later openings of the show featured Ferguson talking or fighting with his "Gay Robot Skeleton" sidekick Geoff Peterson (voiced by Josh Robert Thompson), interacting with pantomime horse Secretariat, interrogating members of the studio audience, or presenting a musical number or a pre-taped sketch. The cold open was followed by the opening credits and a commercial break.

Following the break and his introduction by announcer Shadoe Stevens, Ferguson began with "Welcome to Los Angeles, California, welcome to the ''Late Late Show.'' I am your host, TV's Craig Ferguson. It's a great day for America, everybody!" as he threw pieces of candy to the audience and hit the side of the camera repeatedly. He then went into a free-form, largely ad-libbed monologue. After another commercial break, Ferguson was often seated behind his desk, where he'd ask Geoff "WHAT TIME IS IT GEOFF PETERSON!?" Mail theme songs then played, usually with the phrase "Ass Mode" in them as well as robots. Then Craig read and responded to viewer emails and (starting in February 2010) tweets from his proclaimed "robot skeleton army".

Generally, one or two celebrities were interviewed. Starting in 2008, Ferguson began each by dramatically ripping up note cards written for the interview, "signalling to the audience, and to the guest, that this conversation need not be rigidly managed". Sometimes, a stand-up comedian, cooking segment, or a musical guest performs, the latter of which was typically pre-taped.

Ferguson had many running gags. These included themed weeks such as "Crab Week", "Magic Week", and "Shark Week"; and the long running "photo of Paul McCartney" joke, wherein Ferguson called for a photo of McCartney that was actually a photo of actress Angela Lansbury and vice versa. The show occasionally used variations of the latter gag featuring other pairs of look-alike celebrities, such as Cher being shown as Marilyn Manson. The show also used short skits such as "Dear Aquaman" (in which Ferguson dressed as the superhero and gave advice), "Michael Caine in Space", and various absurdist Sean Connery impersonations, a not realistic Prince Charles coming in and out of commercial breaks, and longer sketches used more infrequently as the show progressed. Ferguson would often disregard censorship rules and swear, much to the chagrin of producer Michael Naidus; in response, Ferguson would jokingly call Naidus a racist. Profanities from Ferguson and his guests would bleeped out by world flags and foreign terms.

The show ended with "What Did We Learn on the Show Tonight, Craig?", a segment that started with an animation of an adorable kitten that sometimes got into silly situations, then meowed. Ferguson then removed his tie, put his feet on his desk (or, later on in the series, talked to Geoff or anyone else that showed up). He then summarized the preceding hour of TV. This was first used along with the 2008 set in and was last used in 2014. Later in the series, show would end with "GP and The Fergs: Epilogue." The kitten then showed up in the bottom-left corner of the screen with a gun in its paws.

Twitter email jingles

2008

* 3 Cowboy Email cartoon characters singing "There's Always Time for Emails" with 2 donkeys and a banjo playing email character. (To the tune of "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain.)
* An email attachment with a woman's arms & legs. With Craig as Hugh Hefner.
* Supermodels (all of which have Craig's face on them) also with old personal computers.
* Yellow Submarine type song with Craig at the bottom. (A walrus, Craig & racoon as the Beatles.) Psychedelic type font for "Email" as well as peace signs and diamonds for the background.
* Pirate and 3 skeletons singing with a green parrot wearing a pirate hat. With skull & cross bones as well as a pirate ship in the background.
* Mariachi band of email attachments. 2 kids hitting Craig the piñata.
* Las Vegas sign with Craig as poker chips & dancers, as well as an email slot machine.
* Circus email theme that has all Craig as the ring leader, the largest weight lifters in front of a circus tent.
* 6 children, a fairy godmother, a child asleep in bed, and moon (Craig's faces). 1 of the children says "I peed in my pants".
* 4 Cartoon Craig in front of the Taj Mahal.
* 2 Craig in lederhosens, 2 email attachments & 4 bratwursts dancing on a stage.
* 3 Reggae emails cartoons with, smoking "It's Email Time" cigar, and Craig being Superman flying past the bottom of the screen.
* 2 David Bowies one of which is flying on a rocket, as well as a guitar rocket with a flame coming out of the body.
* 3 email cartoons with arms and legs shouting in unison the email chant.
* Craig Ferguson as Santa Clause and 3 elves and 1 reindeer all the same guy Bradley Laise.
* The NO email sign with 3 email attachments, with a prohibition sign, Craig sitting on 2 different cannons, a line dancing group of monkeys and 2 giant analogue clocks on them all in front of a stage auditorium. (Proceeds to read emails anyways)

2009

* Magical emails with a rabbit coming out of a black top hat, Craig the wizard casting spells.

2010

* Craig's face and a rectangular robot. With the black and green background. Text being typed using old computer type font. Ending in a 6 chrome skeleton robot flash mob with a volcano in the background.
* 4 robot skeletons all supposed to be David Bowie bots, scrolling along the bottom continuously until the end of the song. With a robot skeleton in the background on the keytar and a triceratops on top of Mars.
* 3 Cowboy Robots riding horses shooting laser guns & a wolf in the background howling at the full moon.
* Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues type tweetmail theme (Bob Dylan is played by Bradley Laise) with a robot skeleton at the very send that also looks like Bob Dylan.
* Robot skeleton wearing a head band & other exercise equipment with ladies in the background. & Craig Ferguson's head with 12 robot arms around it.
* Scooter (Played by Geoff) the Trouble Shooter wearing a turban and an Indian robe. With a lady mirrored 3 times in the background.
* Twitter Attack - The Jumbo Lizard Wrecking Committee (words scroll along the bottom of the screen).

2011

* Craig on the Keytar and Geoff in the side car ending with Craig (previously on the keytar) on the side of a volcano on top of the "Tweetmail" logo (in Metallica's logo type font).
* Weird eerie music with Craig scrolling across the screen in a solid gray outfit with tambourines and monkeys in the background and Craig as 2 ladies with a beehive hairdo, Craig unzips his pant making a talking monkey visible.
* Flamboyant Craig Ferguson in a very bright gold outfit banging on kettle drums.
* Old vintage TV set (with built in speakers and no remote) plays a Beatles-type band named "The Tweets" (with all the same instruments right down to the drumset logo); all of the members of the band are Craig, ending with the "Please Stand By"-type ending replacing "Please Stand By" with "Ass Mode".

2012

*In the Scotland episode, Craig's face and a rectangular robot. With the red, black and green background (for Scotland). Text being typed using old computer type font. Ending in a 6 chrome skeleton robot flash mob with a volcano in the background. (Chanting the email jingle in a more Scottish like accent.)
* Richie Sambora and his band with Secretariat play a short tune then say "Tweets and Emails" with flames.
* Geoff & Craig play the harmonica or "mouth organ" for a few seconds followed by Geoff saying (in a Liam Neeson accent) "QUICKLY THERE'S NO TIME!"

2013

* Craig & Geoff at the Super bowl for the "Craig Ferguson Super Bowl Special" have Geoff's band called "Bone Patrol" play the tweetmail theme with Secretariat wearing a huge football helmet.
* Here come the playas (Geoff & Craig wearing sunglasses and dark outfits going to a rave with robot skeleton ladies, while Craig has falsies on his chest as the DJ at the party.

2014

* Movie style rating intro brought to you by "HORSE®" (Secretariat) as Al Capone other personalities.
* S'MORES (spelled out), gram crackers with arms & legs on an island in front of the ocean. A chocolate bar with Dairy Queen logo on it & a marshmallow with only legs. Then E-MAIL (spelled out) joins them on the beach as well. Then Email has the letters for Tweets in their hands (A DQ Blizzard gets thrown in for good measures). At the very end of this jingle Craig & Geoff are seen eating DQ blizzards as if nothing was happening.

2015

* 4 different Craig characters are on the beach jumping onto their surf boards to ride the waves at the very end Craigetta is using the surfboard on land being pulled by an old car & she falls off onto the sand. (Created in 2008. Did not actually air until 2015)

Production milestones

Ferguson's first show as host was on January 3, 2005. For approximately the first two months, he continued his predecessor's monologue format, reading 5–10 jokes from cue cards. He would ad-lib between the jokes, and soon noticed that the "stuff in-between" got the most reaction from his audience; after that realization, he decided he and his writers would stop writing jokes.

By May 2006, Studio 58, the CBS Television City venue from which the show is taped, had been updated with a digital broadcast Solid State Logic mixing console, needed for 5.1 Channel Surround.

A new set debuted on the July 24, 2006, episode. It included a miniature CBS airship that floated along over the backdrop depicting Los Angeles. In the week of March 17, 2008, ''The Late Late Show'' debuted a new set featuring a desk interview area on a raised platform; the backdrop was also changed to a detailed representation of Los Angeles.

When the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike began, the show went into reruns. It resumed production on January 2, 2008, after Worldwide Pants and the WGA came to an agreement.

In 2008, Worldwide Pants Incorporated signed a product placement deal with Ford to promote the Ford Flex during ''The Late Late Show''. Eight episodes ("with one repeat") of the show included custom-written skits in which Ferguson played the leader of a Scottish rap band called The Highlanderz (consisting of Angus "Big Ginger" Ferguson, Philip "The Howler" McGrade, and Shannon "Bubbles" McGee), riding in a Flex as they traveled from Los Angeles International Airport to the CBS Studio. The skits were shown on successive Thursdays starting on September 4.

On August 31, 2009, the show began broadcasting in high definition, featuring a refitted studio and production facilities, along with a new show logo, new lights, an opening title sequence that "features Ferguson in iconic Los Angeles locations", and a new arrangement of the show's theme song.

Ferguson's initial contract as host was for six years, until the end of 2010; as of August 2007 he was telling television critics he might not be interested in a contract renewal, though by February 2008, he was publicly professing his loyalty to David Letterman, saying: "I will sit behind Dave as long as he sits there."

December 15, 2009, marked his 1,000th episode as host. For the occasion, puppets took over the show; Ferguson conducted the entire show as his puppet Wavy Ranchero, and recurring sketches also featured puppet replacements. Guests, which were not puppets, included Kristen Bell, Maria Bello, and Jason Schwartzman. Jason Segel also made an appearance as his muppet Dracula, performing a musical number with band The Broken West.

On March 31, 2010, the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication of the University of Georgia announced that the ''Late Late Show'' had won the Peabody Award for Excellence in Television for its "Evening with Archbishop Desmond Tutu" episode. According to the Peabody Board, "the Scottish-born Ferguson has made late-night television safe again for ideas".

On April 3, 2012, CBS announced Ferguson agreed to a contract extension through 2014. As part of the deal, CBS will co-produce the show with Worldwide Pants and CBS Television Studios and the show will move to a bigger studio. Although financial terms were not disclosed, the extension likely included a raise beyond what ''Variety'' reported had been his US$13 million salary.

A new set debuted on August 27, 2012. This is similar to the 2008 set, but the detailed representation of Los Angeles remains the same.

Final seasons and departure

Following the departure of Jay Leno from ''The Tonight Show'' and the late night shake-up at NBC, both ''Late Show'' and ''The Late Late Show'' struggled in the ratings against Jimmy Fallon and his successor at 12:30 a.m. ET/PT, '' Late Night with Seth Meyers''. In April 2014, Letterman announced his plans to retire. CBS passed over Ferguson to choose Stephen Colbert as the new host of ''Late Show'' beginning sometime in 2015, reportedly viewing Ferguson as too much of a niche performer to succeed Letterman. Ferguson's contract, which expired in June 2014, stipulated that he was Letterman's successor at 11:30 and that if he was not given the position, he would be paid compensation of as much as US$10,000,000. Letterman's contract included the right to control the time slot that follows his and produce the ''Late Late Show'' and it was his production company (Worldwide Pants) that selected Ferguson as host and with whom his contracts were negotiated. With Letterman's departure, CBS would become the sole producer of the show and it is the network that determines what is done with the time slot and with which any contract is negotiated. CBS had been ambiguous in regard to Ferguson's future as host of ''The Late Late Show''. CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves said in an interview: "12:30 is up in the air ..Obviously, we’re considering all sorts of candidates and women are among them. A woman would be great in late night." However, CBS Entertainment chairman Nina Tassler said that the CBS management are "big fans of Craig" and that "Craig is here and doing his show at 12.30am, and we love having him there".

Chelsea Handler had reportedly begun negotiations to take over hosting of ''The Late Late Show'' when Ferguson's contract expired; however, both Handler and CBS later denied this, saying she was in fact in negotiations with CBS' syndication arm for a daytime show. John Oliver was also reportedly approached by CBS as a possible ''Late Late Show'' host prior to his signing a contract with HBO, as were Neil Patrick Harris and James Corden.

On April 28, 2014, Ferguson announced he would leave the show in December 2014. He had made the decision prior to Letterman's announcement but agreed to delay making his own decision public until the reaction to Letterman's decision had died down. He had also originally intended to leave in the summer of 2014 but agreed to stay until the end of the year to give CBS more time to find a successor. In a statement following his announcement, Tassler said that in his decade as host, Ferguson had "infused the broadcast with tremendous energy, unique comedy, insightful interviews, and some of the most heartfelt monologues seen on television". In an interview with Larry King, Ferguson stated that the final episode of ''The Late Late Show'' with him as host would air December 19, 2014.

In September 2014, comedian James Corden was announced as host of ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'', beginning in 2015. In November 2014, CBS announced Jay Leno would be Ferguson's guest on his final show; during December "notable friends of the show" scheduled for appearances in December included Kristen Bell, Steve Carell, Jon Hamm, Rashida Jones, Mila Kunis, Thomas Lennon, Tim Meadows (whose 41 appearances set the show's record), Jim Parsons, Michael Sheen, Ariel Tweto, Betty White, and Henry Winkler. Meanwhile, several of Ferguson's final episodes dealt with his distaste for abstract expressionism—Mark Rothko in particular—and public reactions to that stance.

Ferguson's final episode started with the usual cold open, but this time showing a montage of friends from the show while they performed Dead Man Fall's song "Bang Your Drum".

Cameos included: Kevin Bacon, Kristen Bell, Jack Black, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Carell, Don Cheadle, Kristin Chenoweth, Marion Cotillard, Tenacious D, Jeff Daniels, Ted Danson, Kat Dennings, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Carl Edwards, Cedric the Entertainer, Tony Hale, Jon Hamm, Sean Hayes, Samuel L. Jackson, Rashida Jones, Toby Keith, Jimmy Kimmel, Larry King, Angela Kinsey, Lisa Kudrow, Mila Kunis, Thomas Lennon, Justin Long, Jane Lynch, James Marsden, Matthew McConaughey, Mary McCormack, Joel McHale, Tim Meadows, Metallica, Kunal Nayyar, Geoff Peterson, Regis Philbin, Ray Romano, Bob Saget, Kyra Sedgwick (plus dog Lily), William Shatner, Michael Sheen, Dax Shepard, Quentin Tarantino, Josh Robert Thompson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Betty White, Henry Winkler, Shailene Woodley, Weird Al Yankovic, and various friends. The pre-taped montage segued to the studio with Ferguson continuing the song backed by the occasional semi-house band Bone Patrol, Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, a full choir, various celebrities, musicians, and friends of the show.

The monologue began with a short time lapse of Craig coming out to start show through the last 10 years, starting on his first day (January 3, 2005) to his last. Craig thanked his comedic partner Josh Robert Thompson, the viewers, the crew, and explained:

After reading his last Tweets & E-mails and doing his final interview with guest Jay Leno, the show ended with his final segment: ''What Did We Learn on the Show Over the Last 10 Years, Craig?'' Craig tells Geoff he wants to finally find out who the real identity of Secretariat is. Asked to lift up his mask, it's revealed to be Bob Newhart. Craig asks, "Bob Newhart?! What are you doing here?" to which Newhart replies, "Hey, guy, it's your dream." Craig wakes up next to Drew Carey as Nigel Wick and proceeds to spoof the finales of ''Newhart'' (the show was all a dream), '' St. Elsewhere'' (he imagined it all from a snowglobe), and ''The Sopranos'' (cut to black with Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'").

Show elements

Cold open

Ferguson starts with a cold open, which is a two-minute segment before the first commercials, theme song, and actual show. Originally, it was a miniature monologue and to talk about the guests on the show. Over time, this segment expanded to include short skits and musical sessions often involving puppets, and occasional interaction with members of the studio audience. In actual practice, the cold open was the second segment presented when the show was recorded at the CBS studios. The open was actually recorded after the monologue but aired before it, something Ferguson originally thinly disguised, but later openly mocked.

On November 22, 2010, Ferguson opened the show with evidence that a French talk show called '' Ce Soir Avec Arthur'' had stolen his show's opening sequence, as well as some of his puppet and song-and-dance concepts. On November 29, 2010, Ferguson introduced Arthur in the cold opening of the show; they joked back and forth for about two minutes, and then Arthur returned to help Ferguson answer viewer emails and again at the end of the show.

Theme song

When he was hired as the full-time replacement for Craig Kilborn, Ferguson co-wrote and recorded a theme song. The theme tune was re-recorded for the show's switch to HD, premiering on August 31, 2009, and produced by Andy "Stoker" Growcott. Except for when the show traveled (i.e. Paris, Scotland, New Orleans), the lyrics to this theme were the same during the entire 10-year run.

Sidekicks

Geoff Peterson

On April 5, 2010, Ferguson began featuring a robot skeleton sidekick, Geoff Peterson, voiced by Josh Robert Thompson. The robot was created by former '' Mythbuster'' Grant Imahara. According to a web article by Jeremy Kaplan, when Imahara became aware of Ferguson's idea to have a robot sidekick, he responded with a March 1, 2010 tweet:

Ferguson subsequently came through with the followers and Imahara came through with the robot.

While Geoff began with pre-recorded phrases, Thompson voiced him live in studio for almost every episode since late June 2011, including those filmed in Paris, France and Scotland. Three people are often given screen credit at the end of the show as being responsible for Geoff: Imahara, writer Tom Straw (and later Bob Oschack), and voice actor Thompson.

Ferguson has said that the robot is "my metaphor for deconstructing the dead art form of the late night talk show", and that he selected the name because of its commonness. Ferguson has jokingly referred to Geoff as an "appliance" who is being used because the show's small budget does not permit a typical (and living) sidekick or band. But as the years progressed, mainly due to Thompson's performance, even Ferguson would admit that Geoff Peterson came to fully embody the very sidekick cliché that they intended to mock.

Geoff has a running "feud" with recurring guest Kristen Bell, who claims that she had wanted to be Craig's sidekick and was upset when Geoff was selected.

Secretariat

Secretariat is a pantomime horse which first appeared on October 11, 2010, as a joke reference to the Disney film ''Secretariat'' which was based on the life of the 1973 triple-crown winning racehorse, Secretariat. The people playing Secretariat were Joseph Bolter and Ryan McGowan.

Secretariat's appearances on the show would begin through a doorbell ring, which Ferguson would press at random moments in the show, even in the middle of an interview. Ferguson would ask, "Who's that at the door?," prompting Secretariat to enter and dance around the stage accompanied by techno music, with Ferguson, the guest, and the audience standing up to dance with him. Secretariat would initially leave through where he entered, but later episodes would show him proceeding to his "stall" at the right-hand side of the stage. By December 2010, he had become a regular on the show, and Secretariat would often appear even if unprompted, such as the cold opens or when talked to from his stall. Sometimes, Secretariat would be provoked by Ferguson or a Tweets & Email submission, causing him to angrily kick his stall open; Geoff would jokingly aggravate the situation by saying, "Kick his ass, man!," though he varies in rooting for either Ferguson or Secretariat.

Secretariat has appeared in some sketches, including one on January 7, 2011, when a clip was shown of Secretariat traveling to New York City to deliver a Christmas present to Jimmy Fallon, who competed against Ferguson in the same time slot on NBC. In the clip, Secretariat makes appearances on other New York-based CBS programs such as ''Live with Regis and Kelly'', '' The View'', ''CBS News'' (where Katie Couric did the Secretariat Dance), and ''Late Show with David Letterman''.

When Ferguson hosted the show from Paris, France during the week of August 1, 2011, Secretariat played a role in several locations. He again accompanied the show during its week of programs taped in Scotland, airing in the summer of 2012. Secretariat also appeared in several background shots of ESPN remote shows during the show's visit to New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII in 2013.

A following has been built around the false horse, with multiple fan pages existing on Facebook, and several websites selling Team Secretariat T-shirts. As part of the finale's last sketch, Secretariat unmasks himself and reveals himself to be Bob Newhart.

Sandra the Rhino

Voiced by Dana DeLorenzo, Sandra is a rhino head mounted above the studio's faux fireplace. Craig would try and get Geoff and Sandra to speak at the same time and they couldn't so everyone would just laugh hysterically about the lack of having more staff.

Alfredo Sauce and the Shy Fellas

Over the course of his run as host, Ferguson wished to have a house band. As a substitute, Alfredo Sauce and the Shy Fellas were created, billed as "the Shyest Band in Late Night." Said to be hiding behind the curtain covering the studio bandstand, in reality Alfredo Sauce and the other band members were voiced by Thompson and their musical cues were stock recordings. Though the characters' faces were never shown, Alfredo Sauce's hand (an oversized prop) made an appearance in one episode when it reached out from behind the curtain.

Impersonations and characters

Impersonations and sketch characters frequently done by Ferguson on the show include Prince Charles (usually hosting "''The Rather Late Programme''"), Wilford Brimley, Sean Connery, Bill Clinton, David Bowie, Queen Elizabeth II, Andy Rooney, Aquaman, Michael Caine, David Bowie, Elton John, Bono, and Mitt Romney. He claims that he developed his imitation of Caine after an eight-hour-long plane ride on which he sat behind Caine, who "gabbed" with his wife the entire trip.

Less frequent impersonations include Dr. Phil, Simon Cowell, Kim Jong-il, Mick Jagger, Morgan Freeman, Regis Philbin, Angela Lansbury (as "Jessica Fletcher" on ''Murder, She Wrote''), Jay Leno, Jimmy Fallon, Larry King ("of the Jungle"), Arnold Schwarzenegger, and J. K. Rowling.

Puppets

Beginning in 2008, the show began incorporating puppets in the cold open; many were given to Ferguson by Folkmanis Puppets. Ferguson stated in an interview with ''Playboy'' magazine that the impetus behind starting to do the puppets is hearing an episode of '' Jonesy's Jukebox'' during his drive in to work where "The Lonely Goatherd" was played. Upon arriving he decided to lip synch the song on air that night using some hand puppets that were already on hand. The cloth puppets were phased out of the series after its move to a new studio in the fall of 2012, and were not featured in the show's opening that premiered in September 2013, but marionettes of Drew Carey and Morgan Freeman were used frequently in cold opens during the fall of 2013.

Puppets used on air:

* Sandra Biggerstaff: An adorable male giraffe that is a representative for BP.
* Sid: A cute, yet vulgar white rabbit, with a North London accent.
* Wavy Rancheros: A crocodile with a Cajun accent prone to waving his left hand at the audience (hence his name), Wavy "hosted" the show's 1,000th episode.
* The Pig/Gustave Flaubert: Used during the initial outbreak of swine flu, a pig with sideburns and a tuft of hair who has a "contempt for the bourgeoisie".
* Kronos: A monkey who wears a bellhop's uniform and claims to be from another planet.
* Brian: A shark with a wonderful singing voice.
* Punxsutawney Phil: A groundhog that speaks in a German accent.
* Sebastian Trousers: A wolf objecting to the portrayals of wolves in the movies.
* George: A slow talking French snail.
* Craig Ferguson: A highly satirized version of the host, with a giant Liza Minnelli cut-out for the head. Voiced by Josh Robert Thompson in scenes with Craig portraying Tiny Drew Carey
* Evangeline: A female ferret with a deep, male voice who is on steroids in preparation for the Olympics.
*Sandra Peterson, a remote-controlled rhino head that hangs over the fireplace; originally voiced by Dana DeLorenzo (who also portrayed "Beth", a bespectacled "CBS executive"), Sandra "returned" in 2014, voiced and operated by Josh Robert Thompson
* Tiny Drew Carey: A small marionette of Drew Carey (though the body and head reflect Carey before his weight loss in 2010). A miniature desk is sometimes featured for Tiny Drew Carey to "sit" behind.
* Morgan Freeman: A large Morgan Freeman marionette who usually interacts with Tiny Drew Carey; voiced by Josh Robert Thompson.
* In one episode, Lauren Graham operated Nadine, a cat puppet, which appeared to have a romantic relationship with Wavy.

Musical performances

''The Late Late Show'' tapes musical performances separately from the rest of the show. For example, the noise rock band No Age was videotaped on October 2, 2008, for an appearance scheduled to air October 27. That performance was also the subject of an equal-time rule controversy in which guitarist Randy Randall was not allowed to wear a pro-Barack Obama T-shirt. Randall, not wanting to cancel the appearance, chose instead to turn the T-shirt inside out.

Interview ending activities

Starting in 2010, Ferguson began ending interviews by variously offering the guest a choice between two or three activities. These have included:
* Mouth Organ: Ferguson and the guest play the mouth organ (harmonica) briefly. Guests that can play the instrument properly are awarded the Golden Mouth Organ.‡
* Awkward Pause: Ferguson and the guest act out an awkward pause together. Occasionally Ferguson and the guest would agree on a particular subtext for the awkward pause, for instance 'sexual tension awkward pause' or 'smell my finger awkward pause'.
* Big Cash Prize: Ferguson will offer the guest $7.50 in nickels for either answering a question (which always start with factoids about Iceland's capital city), or guessing 'What's in My Box?', an imaginary box that only Geoff knows the contents of. Prior to August 27, 2012, the prize was $50 in $1 bills or in quarters. Ferguson explained that the reduced prize was necessary to help pay for the new studio. During episodes taped in Scotland, the prize was awarded in pounds sterling.
* Fruit: Ferguson asks the guest if they would like a piece of fruit, selected from a basket on the desk containing tropical fruit such as mangoes, cherimoyas, and other exotic offerings. When a coconut is chosen, Ferguson proceeds to smash it open on his desk and drink the coconut milk with the guest.
* Throw Frisbees at the Horse: Ferguson and the guest attempt to hit Secretariat with frisbees.
* Guess What Her Majesty The Queen Is Thinking: A variation of the Big Cash Prize, Ferguson states that they have imagined a scenario where her majesty the queen has been wrongly imprisoned, and the guest must guess what she is thinking. He then proceeds to impersonate the queen and tell whether or not they were correct.
* True or Not True?: Another variation of the Big Cash Prize, where Ferguson utters a short story (of any matter) and the guest has to decide if it's true or not true. As with "What's in My Box", the real answer is only known to Geoff Peterson.
* Touch My Glittery Ball: The guest is encouraged to touch a small, spinning disco ball on Ferguson's desk. By mid-October 2011 Ferguson had only occasionally offered this option.
* Haggis in a TARDIS/Touch My Haggis: the guest is offered the option to touch a vegetarian haggis, supplied by Neil Gaiman, which has been stuffed into the model TARDIS which sits on Craig's desk.
* Freeze-frame High Five: Craig and guest high-five and keep pose. Only used a few times before being phased out.

Ratings

In 2006, clips of ''The Late Late Show'' began appearing on the video sharing website YouTube. Subsequently, Ferguson's ratings "grew seven percent (or by 100,000 viewers)."

During the week ending March 31, 2006, ''The Late Late Show'' attracted an average of 1.9 million total viewers, a number that increased to 2.0 million a year later.

During the week ending April 4, 2008, ''The Late Late Show'' attracted an average of 1.88 million total viewers; that week, for the first time since Ferguson began hosting, the show's "five-night week of original head-to-head broadcasts", which was later discovered to actually be four nights due to a difference in title, drew a larger audience than ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. Reuters noted that "Ferguson's bigger accomplishment seems to be that he has merely lost fewer viewers this season, with his total audience slipping 12% from a year ago, compared with a 24% drop for O'Brien"; the year-to-year decline in viewership was attributed to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.

''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' encountered new competition in March 2009, the first night of '' Late Night with Jimmy Fallon''. During Fallon's first week, the new show averaged 2.4 million viewers, a half million more viewers than Ferguson's show. Fallon maintained his lead over Ferguson during the show's second week, but by March 16, ''The Late Late Show'' had attracted a larger audience. In July 2009, Ferguson led Late Night in total viewers by a 25% margin. On September 22, 2009, the night Ferguson followed the Letterman interview of President Obama, his audience reached 3.24 million, the show's biggest ever; Ferguson attracted two million viewers more than Jimmy Fallon and almost a million more than Conan O'Brien attracted an hour earlier.
By the end of 2009, ''The Late Late Show'' topped ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' in the ratings with a 1.8 rating/6 share and 1.6 rating/6 share, respectively.

By May 2010, ''Late Late Show'' and ''Late Night'' were roughly tied in the ratings, with Ferguson leading in total viewers (1.7 million compared to 1.6 million for Fallon) and Fallon having a narrow edge in ratings.

During November sweeps in 2011, ''The Late Late Show'' was third in late-late night broadcasting; its 1.7 million views were well ahead of ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' but behind the 2 million viewers of ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' and the 1.8 million viewers of '' Late Night with Jimmy Fallon''.

The 2012 November sweeps saw ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' edge ahead of '' Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' and ''The Late Late Show'' with 2.1 million total viewers, compared to Fallon's 1.75 million and Ferguson's 1.6 million.

Notable episodes

* On January 3, 2005, Ferguson hosted his first episode, with first guests David Duchovny, and Nicole Sullivan.
* On January 30, 2006, Ferguson eulogized his father, who had died the day before. He was nominated for his first Emmy Award for the episode.
* On February 19, 2007, Ferguson announced he would do "no Britney Spears jokes", saying "comedy should have a certain amount of joy in it" and that it shouldn't include "attacking the vulnerable." He referenced his 15 years of sobriety and the struggle he had with addiction, almost ending in suicide. Despite Ferguson's initial trepidation over how the monologue would be received, it earned widespread support from both industry peers and viewers, and it has resurfaced on the internet several times since its broadcast in relation to Britney Spears' subsequent media attention.
* On September 10, 2008, he described his excitement about voting in his first U.S. Presidential election and ranted against American voter fatigue, stating, "If you don't vote, you're a moron!"My fellow Americans: Craig Ferguson tells viewers, "If you don't vote you're a moron"; read his monologue
from kansascity.com
* On March 4, 2009, he dedicated the entire show to his guest, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The cold open and monologue featured a brief history of South Africa and apartheid. The show was during a week of change in late night, with the premiere of '' Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'', a show competing with ''The Late Late Show'', occurring two days earlier. The interview received critical praise from NPR's TV critic, David Bianculli, who called the episode's monologue "nothing less than an entertaining, understandable, shockingly thorough history of South African politics and colonization" and its interview "inspirational ..almost beyond measure." This show was given a Peabody Award March 31, 2010 for broadcasting excellence in news and entertainment.
* On October 27, 2009, during an interview with Alicia Silverstone, CBS lost power due to abnormally high gusts of wind in the area, with Ferguson joking that "We've gone to radio, everybody!" before going to a commercial break. The power "returned" before the interview with Salman Rushdie (the interview was pretaped), only to "go out" again during the "What did we learn on the show tonight, Craig?" segment. The next night, he commented in the cold opening that Wolf Blitzer reported on CNN that the lights went out on the show, "but how can that be news?"
* The episode on December 15, 2009, was the 1,000th of Ferguson's tenure as host, and to mark the occasion, the entire show was done with puppets. "Wavy Ranchero" "filled in" as host, delivering a brief monologue and interviewing the celebrity guests, the shark puppet was used for the "Dear Aquaman" skits, and "Connery the Bull" appeared in the "A Sean Connery Holiday Memory" skits. Jason Segel appeared with a Dracula puppet, performing the song "Dracula's Lament" from his film ''Forgetting Sarah Marshall'', accompanied by The Broken West. The only time Ferguson himself appeared on camera (aside from the opening title sequence and the "Dear Aquaman" intro) was during the closing segment in which he was on stage in his Prince Charles costume, along with many of his puppets and crew members, while Wavy "performed" to James Taylor's recording of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend". Ferguson was also seen during the closing credits which showed various captioned shots of behind-the-scenes action that took place during the episode's production.
* On January 14, 2010, Ferguson said in the cold open that he would not talk about "the trouble at late night" at NBC, because there was an actual news story about the earthquake in Haiti. Commenting on Rush Limbaugh's statement "We already donated to Haiti, it's called U.S. Income Tax", he said "Rush Limbaugh has to fill a lot of air time with saying things and occasionally saying garbage, and God knows I do that every night here." He told Limbaugh that the way to take the sting out of his statement was to donate a million dollars of his money to the Red Cross "and we'll say no more about it."
* On February 23, 2010, Ferguson did a show with a single guest and without a studio audience, a format in part inspired by Tom Snyder, who had hosted '' Tomorrow'' and the first five years of '' The Late Late Show'' in such a format. According to Ferguson, the Tonight Show host and time slot conflict got him to reflect on the "late-night traditions started by Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, and 'lovingly deconstructed' by David Letterman" and prompted him to try such an experiment. Ferguson's guest for the hour was Stephen Fry.
* On April 5, 2010, the show introduced Geoff Peterson, Craig's robot skeleton sidekick. Previously, Craig had professed his desire to have his own "Robot Skeleton Army". To that end, Mythbusters' Grant Imahara volunteered to build Craig a robot skeleton sidekick if Craig got him 100,000 followers on Twitter. Originally, Craig provided the voice of Geoff, using a harsh, metallic voice in several short, pre-recorded phrases. Later that month, Josh Robert Thompson began providing Geoff's voice full-time. By mid 2011, Thompson would perform Geoff live in the studio.
* On November 16, 2010, Ferguson dedicated an entire episode to the British science fiction program ''Doctor Who'', complete with a Dalek and guest Matt Smith. The cold open was marred when a rehearsed dance number was forced to be scrapped due to CBS not receiving legal clearance to play the ''Doctor Who'' theme song five minutes before air, much to the anger of Ferguson. The dance number later leaked on YouTube on December 1. Ferguson announced on January 3, 2011, that the dance number had finally been cleared to be shown and that it would air on the upcoming show which Alex Kingston (who plays "River Song" on ''Doctor Who'') would guest on.
* On February 1, 2011, the show was dedicated to an examination of African-American history and culture in honor of February being Black History Month in the United States. Ferguson stated at the top of the show that as a recent immigrant to the country he was not very knowledgeable about the topic and would use that night's episode to educate himself. He also declared at the top of the show that there would be "no skeleton" and "no horse" during that night's taping (in reference to Geoff Peterson and Secretariat). His guests that night were Cornel West and George Clinton, who also performed "One Nation Under A Groove" with his band Parliament-Funkadelic.
* In June 2011, Ferguson filmed an entire week of shows in Paris, France, featuring Kristen Bell as co-host. The episodes aired during the week of August 1. Ferguson joked, "It's the first time in the history of this show that we've been allowed outside." For this week of shows, the program was temporarily re-titled ''Le Late Late Show avec Craig Ferguson à Paris'', and Ferguson sang the show's theme song on-camera with help from two Parisian musicians: one playing a piano, the other a double bass.
* On August 23, 2011, Ferguson received a white substance in the mail that was feared to be anthrax. Many people were held in isolation after being exposed to the substance, but they were released after the police discovered that the powdery substance was benign. Ferguson joked about the incident on his show, explaining, "Today someone sent an envelope packed with white powder to the show. I offered to taste it, but they said 'no'".
* On June 28, 2012, the show's lights lost power after a transformer blew, shorting out the light grid above the stage. This forced the crew to carry on with the show with the dimly-lit set.
* On April 15, 2013, the show following the Boston Marathon bombing began with Ferguson, seated at his desk, talking to the audience about the bombing, his feelings about them, his personal relationship with the city of Boston, and the lack of a proper open and monologue for the show, stating that it would be "insensitive, at best" to open the show with "It's a great day for America." He also explained the bombing might come up again during the show, saying, "This is on my mind; I can't pretend it's not there." Along with the monologue, the show omitted the opening sequence, the usual "Tweets & Email" segment (going straight into the first interview following the first commercial), and the usual "What Did We Learn on the Show Tonight, Craig?" segment at the end of the show. Geoff Peterson and Secretariat were also absent. During the show, Ferguson talked briefly about the bombing to his guests, Rob Lowe and Larry King. To end the show, Ferguson addressed his audience in Boston, saying, "Our thoughts are with you, and we'll see how it goes. Good luck to you." ''Time'' magazine later placed Ferguson's monologue at number one on its list of the Top 10 Late Night Moments of 2013.
* April Fools' Day, 2014, featured a swap of cast between the show and ''The Price Is Right''; Craig, Shadoe, and the cast did that day's episode of ''Price,'' while Drew Carey hosted ''The Late Late Show'' with George Gray working as announcer.
* On September 19, 2014, ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' aired its 2,000th episode.
* On December 19, 2014, ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' aired its final episode, with Jay Leno as the featured guest. In the cold open, Ferguson performed Dead Man Fall's song "Bang Your Drum" accompanied by Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick (plus dog Lily), Jack Black, Kristen Bell, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Carell, Don Cheadle, Kristin Chenoweth, Marion Cotillard, Tenacious D, Jeff Daniels, Ted Danson, Kat Dennings, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tony Hale, Carl Edwards, Cedric the Entertainer, Jon Hamm, Sean Hayes, Samuel L. Jackson, Rashida Jones, Toby Keith, Jimmy Kimmel, Mila Kunis, Lisa Kudrow, Jane Lynch, Justin Long, James Marsden, Matthew McConaughey, Mary McCormack, Joel McHale, Tim Meadows, Metallica, Kunal Nayyar, Geoff Peterson, Regis Philbin, Ray Romano, Bob Saget, William Shatner, Michael Sheen, Quentin Tarantino, Josh Robert Thompson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Henry Winkler, Shailene Woodley, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Larry King, Angela Kinsey, Betty White, Thomas Lennon, Secretariat, and Ferguson's bunny and alligator puppets in a pre-taped montage which segued to the song continuing live in studio with Ferguson singing backed by occasional semi-house band Bone Patrol, Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and a choir and various celebrities, musicians and friends of the show accompanying on stage. The What Did We Learn segment at the end of the show revealed Secretariat, the pantomime horse, to be Bob Newhart, at which point the segment became a parody of the ''Newhart'' series finale with Ferguson as Mr. Wick from ''The Drew Carey Show'' waking up from a bad dream, in bed with Drew Carey revealing the 10 years of ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' to have been a dream. References to the series finales of '' St. Elsewhere'' and ''The Sopranos'' were also made.

International broadcast

The ''Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' aired in Australia on Eleven, first premiering on January 11, 2011.

In Canada, the series aired on CHCH, Global, and Omni Television.

See also

* ''Late Show with David Letterman''
* ''The Late Late Show with James Corden''
* '' Celebrity Name Game''
* ''Join or Die with Craig Ferguson''
* '' The Craig Ferguson Show''
* List of late night network TV programs

Notes

References

External links

Craig Ferguson
on Twitter

''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''
on Twitter

''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''
on Facebook
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

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