Craig Ferguson just announced he is leaving The Late Late Show on CBS by the end of the calendar year. Makes sense for him to bail with his new commitment as host of the syndicated Celebrity Name Game show going into production shortly. Theres also a 30 minute slot open at Comedy Central but probably will not be filled by Mr. Ferguson since CC and CBS are controlled by the same puppet masters and Ferguson is calling this a divorce. It has been a very memorable 10 years for Mr. Ferguson at CBS with some of the most intimate and moving monologues in late night TV history since a notable few Jack Parr soliloquies. Craigs best moments included the entire show about the passing of his father. I couldnt believe the honesty pouring out of him. Craig Fergusons departure will leave a hole in my late night life larger than Letterman or Leno. Many media writers already are writing that CF quit since he didnt get Lettermans old job. These media experts obviously were not paying attention when CF said in numerous interviews preceding Lettermans announcement that he really ,really, really didnt want the 11:35 slot and had no desire to do it and would in fact turn it down if it was offered. Fergusons departure has more to do with ratings, money and the fact that Letterman is retiring and Lettermans Worldwide Pants production company produces both Lettermans show and Fergusons too. No Letterman, no Worldwide Pants so no Ferguson. Its logical. I dont think Mr. Ferguson was right for 11:35 and think Stephen Colbert is perfect for it. But at 12:35 Craig Ferguson was just the right amount of crazy. Craig is really smart and knew 10 years of the Robot Skeleton Army gag was enough and it was time to do something else. TLLS ratings were down about 500,000 viewers per day so he wasnt in a real strong position to renegotiate his contract directly with CBS and produce the show independently. Funny aside: As Mr. Ferguson was making his announcement tonight suddenly for some reason I can not explain an image of a grinning cigarette smoking Tom Snyder flashed into my head. Tom Snyder was in this time slot ages ago on NBC. I missed Tom for years right up until CBS gave us Craig Ferguson. Finally someone was on at 12:35 that made me pay attention again. Someone I made it a point to catch. After Craig came along I didnt miss Tom quite as much but still consider Snyder a unique talent even though he wasnt very funny since he was neither comedian nor actor. What Snyder turned out to be was the most adept interviewer in talk show history on either radio or TV. Now Ill be missing Craig until something as good comes along, if it ever does. Im already sure it isnt Seth Meyers. Hes no Snyder or Ferguson as there is no innovation there. Mr. Meyers simply doesnt give me a reason to watch. Snyder and Ferguson gave me reasons. Two very different reasons though. One seriously smart and the other seriously crazy with street smarts. For the few who may also remember Tom Snyder here are my two favorite Tom Snyder quotes from the late 70s and early 80s that were punctuated with cigarette ash flips as smoke swirled about as it did on TV talk shows then: When everything is comin your way, youre probably in the wrong lane. Relax, and watch the pictures now as they fly through the air right into your home.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Apr 2014 06:25:47 +0000
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