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Post by Mod City on Jan 15, 2015 20:16:13 GMT -5
I know it's been a few weeks, but I just wanted to throw a comment out on Craig Ferguson's final Late Late Show. I've been a fan long enough to remember him eulogizing Johnny Carson a few weeks after he started, and I've enjoyed his breezy, free-form interviews and hosting style ever since. He was great with regular talk show celebrity interviews, but he could really shine when he dealt with heavier material. Talking about the death of his parents, his struggles with addiction, an interview sans audience (ala Tom Snyder) with Stephen Fry and interviews with the occasional luminary - like Desmond Tutu - were compelling television.
So I was sad to see him step down. I don't know if he really wasn't interested in Letterman's show or if he was hurt about not being selected and just didn't want to go there, but I think he would have done a great job. Stephen Colbert will be excellent, no doubt, but I'll always be a fan of Ferguson.
And I enjoyed his last show. We got a little bit of everything, even if much of it was an underwhelming talk with Jay Leno. That in itself my indicate how he felt about not getting the Late Show gig, but maybe that's reading too much into it. The twist ending was amusing, but again, it all felt kind of understated. I don't really care, though. It was a final hour with a great host.
The opening, however, was fantastic. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff, and with a drum-heavy cover of a song by a band from Ferguson's home town in Scotland setting the background, we get a bunch of his celebrity friends and past guests lip-synching and goofing around. They were having fun. Just like they usually do when they're on his show. For those who missed it:
Now, I'm sure someone here can help me. I'm not sure who two of the people in the montage are. I know I'm an idiot, but can someone identify:
1. The woman to the right of William Shatner at the 0:13 mark? 2. The woman on the far right at the 1:04 mark (god help me, it looks like Jodie Foster to me, but I don't think she was ever on the show)?
Sorry to see him go, but I'm glad I was along for the ride. Thanks, Craig!
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jan 18, 2015 17:49:34 GMT -5
Mod, why am I not surprised to find out you are a Ferguson fan? You always seem to have such good taste.
CF was a mad genius. His extemporaneous monologues and true conversation interviews were the best thing on late night for years. Towards the end, you could tell he was getting bored and seemed to lose his emotional edge, but he still was appointment viewing in the Atari house each night. I loved all the incarnations of the show, like when he used to have Dave Foley as a regular in skits, or the awesome puppets (especially Wavy Rancheros) and lip-syncing cold opens, or back when Secretariat was just a random dance party leader. But Geoff Peterson really sealed the crazy brilliance of CF's vision. Rumor has it that Craig is going to start a mid-afternoon syndicated talk show. If that's true, I really hope he brings Josh Robert Thompson with him.
As for your questions, based on his guest lists for the last 2 months of the show, I think the woman at 0:13 is Shailene Woodley and the woman at 1:04 is Marion Cotillard.
And if you haven't checked YouTube for the times Geoff makes Craig laugh uncontrollably, you're missing out.
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Post by Mod City on Jan 18, 2015 20:57:45 GMT -5
Mod, why am I not surprised to find out you are a Ferguson fan? You always seem to have such good taste. CF was a mad genius. His extemporaneous monologues and true conversation interviews were the best thing on late night for years. Towards the end, you could tell he was getting bored and seemed to lose his emotional edge, but he still was appointment viewing in the Atari house each night. I loved all the incarnations of the show, like when he used to have Dave Foley as a regular in skits, or the awesome puppets (especially Wavy Rancheros) and lip-syncing cold opens, or back when Secretariat was just a random dance party leader. But Geoff Peterson really sealed the crazy brilliance of CF's vision. Rumor has it that Craig is going to start a mid-afternoon syndicated talk show. If that's true, I really hope he brings Josh Robert Thompson with him. As for your questions, based on his guest lists for the last 2 months of the show, I think the woman at 0:13 is Shailene Woodley and the woman at 1:04 is Marion Cotillard. And if you haven't checked YouTube for the times Geoff makes Craig laugh uncontrollably, you're missing out. We do seem to seem to line up the same way a lot, don't we? Couldn't have said it better about Ferguson myself. Wavy was my favorite puppet, as well, if nothing else for the name alone. Secretariat was developing something close to a personality over the last few years of the show. And yeah, Geoff Peterson ended up being one of the best sidekicks in the business. Josh Robert Thompson apparently just recorded phrases the producers could use as they wished, but they eventually started using him live in the studio to react with Craig. This video is one of those first nights doing it live, and Thompson has said he thinks it's the reason Geoff hung around for the rest of the show's run. Craig's breakdown is at about the 2:00 mark, but it's all funny. Incidentally, Thompson appears in that montage video at 0:54. Craig also featured him in the cold open a night or two before. Sadly, it sounds like the talk show is not moving forward. I think he and Thompson were going to tour for a while with Geoff, though. Probably worth keeping an eye out. I really wish I could find a video or transcript of Ferguson's eulogy of Johnny Carson. He couldn't have been on the air more than a couple weeks and he was the only late night show not in reruns at the moment, so he was the first host to say something on air about Carson dying. It was then I learned Ferguson has an incredibly gift for storytelling. Here was the new guy on the block, who admitted right then he didn't watch Carson much even when he was huge, relating a childhood memory of Carson that seemed more heartfelt than even the massive tributes Letterman and Leno gave out. And read American on Purpose. I hear his novel is great too, but I haven't read it. Oh, and thanks for the help with the names! Looking them up seems you're right. I didn't know either of them.
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Post by angilasman on Jan 19, 2015 0:31:32 GMT -5
I already miss him... and Geoff... and Secretariat. It was one of those comforting shows which felt more like hanging out with friends than anything else. He could be the absolute silliest or he could be intellectual in a way that's daring on mainstream TV. You see, people on TV are afraid to seem smarter than the average folks watching. It could alienate the audience, they feel, but Craig's just comfortably being himself had the opposite effect, making him more personable than any other TV host.
... and then there's Colbert's vacating his spot. Late night TV seems awfully lonely, and it's a long way till Colbert takes over for Letterman this Fall. Hope Larry Willmore's show is good.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jan 19, 2015 20:16:03 GMT -5
I loved that on any random night, you might tune in Craig Ferguson and get something like this:
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Post by Mod City on Jan 20, 2015 0:38:00 GMT -5
I loved that on any random night, you might tune in Craig Ferguson and get something like this: I've never seen that, and damn if I don't love that show more and more. Who else would have done that on a late night talk show? Now I'm gonna have TMBG in my head all night. Where's my cassette of Flood?
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Post by GarrettCRW on Feb 2, 2015 6:40:17 GMT -5
Craig Ferguson is the man, dog.
I want to like James Corden, but I'm getting really bad vibes when I hear about him adding a house band to the show (something that no version of The Late Late Show has ever had, or needed). Worse, I made the mistake of watching Jim Gaffigan's first night on the parade of not-Craigs (I pretty much skipped every one prior to that), and it was the worst pile of garbage I've seen in years. Besides shoehorning his family in in the worst way possible, Gaffigan and whoever has replaced Michael Naidus (the not-really-a-racist producer) seems determined to follow the shitty template that all the other talk shows adhere to. I'm actually convinced now that with the exception of Drew Carey, these guest hosts are going to simply try to drive away the demanding Ferguson audience, and that CBS wants it that way.
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Feb 19, 2015 4:58:14 GMT -5
I'm a little late to this, but I'm really, really gonna miss Craig. I understand his stand-up's still going to be going strong, and he'll probably keep providing fun voices for the odd animated thing, but it's not gonna be the same without his show. And I loved all the folks in the intro that I hadn't seen in a while. (Like Oom-Ra, the alien.)
I generally choose not to watch TV when I'm at work, but I had to be at work his final night. I gladly watched it from work. I was a little sad when it ended. The twist ending would've been better, I think, if it'd ended with his standard closing credits music instead of the eerie silence. But, eh. It was fun.
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Post by crowschmo on Feb 25, 2015 15:13:10 GMT -5
Maybe he can replace Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Don't know if they picked someone, but I really can't picture anyone but Stewart doing that if they are continuing with the show. But maybe Craig would do a good job.
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Post by crowschmo on Mar 2, 2015 18:39:09 GMT -5
Just went to see Ferguson Saturday night. It was a funny show. The guy who did the voice for that skeleton thingee opened for him. Good stuff.
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Mar 24, 2015 22:45:02 GMT -5
Nice! Glad to see that Geoff Peterson is still teaming up with him in spirit.
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Post by angilasman on Jan 29, 2017 14:14:57 GMT -5
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