Late Show UK

Craig Ferguson has announced his wife Megan Wallace is pregnant.

The Late Late Show host said on Twitter “Holy crackers! Mrs F is pregnant. How did that happen? …oh yeah I know how. Another Ferguson arrives in 2011. The world tremble”.

Craig joked it would be “awesome” to call the baby Patrick Troughton after his favourite Doctor Who actor.

The Sun – “Craig Ferguson to name tot after Timelord Doctor Who”
Craig Ferguson on Twitter

Craig Ferguson has joined Twitter. The host of the Late Late Show started posting a few days ago. One of his first posts says “the fact that i am on twitter probably means its on the way out”. Follow him at www.twitter.com/craigyferg.

CBS are close to reaching a deal to keep David Letterman and Craig Ferguson with the network until at least 2012. The Live Feed reports Letterman and Craig “will have agreements that keep them on the air into 2012, CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler told reporters at press tour”.

The Live Feed – “Letterman, Ferguson close to contract renewals”
Digital Spy – “Letterman ‘to extend CBS contract to 2012′”

Craig Ferguson was a guest on the Late Show With David Letterman last night. The host of the Late Late Show visited Dave to discuss his talk show (which follows directly after the Late Show on CBS) and tells us about his encounter with Rolling Stones legend Mick Jagger (including a very good impersonation of him as a “sexy dinosaur”).

Click here to watch clip of the Craig Ferguson interview

In addition to Paul Shaffer’s new book and the book inspired by David Letterman’s son Harry, there’s another one to add to the list.

Craig Ferguson is releasing his new book called “American On Purpose: The Improbable Adventures Of An Unlikely Patriot” on the 22nd September in the US (available to pre-order now at Amazon.com) and on the 1st October in the UK (available to pre-order now at Amazon.co.uk).

To numb the pain of failure, Ferguson found comfort in drugs and alcohol, addictions that eventually led to an aborted suicide attempt. (He forgot to do it when someone offered him a beer). But his story has a happy ending: in 1993, the washed up Ferguson washed up in the United States, which from the age of 7 he had always seen as a beacon of goodness and possibility. Finally sober, he landed a breakthrough role on the hit sitcom “The Drew Carey Show”, which eventually led to his current night job as the host of “The Late Late Show” on CBS. By far Ferguson’s greatest triumph was his decision to become a U.S. citizen, a milestone he achieved in early 2008, just before his command performance for the President of the United States himself at the White House Correspondent’s dinner. In “American on Purpose”, Craig Ferguson talks a red, white, and blue streak about everything our Founding Fathers feared (Source text – Amazon.co.uk).

Nice to see Craig Ferguson getting his picture on the front page of the BBC News UK website today for the “30 more famous Britons you’ve probably never heard of” list. He made it to number 3 in the list, made up of nominations from readers.

Jeremy Thompson of Lexington, Kentucky – who nominated Craig – says “Craig Ferguson is a very well known talk show host here in the US. Ferguson was born in Glasgow but moved to the US in 1994 where he appeared on the Drew Carey show. Since 2004 Ferguson has been presenting The Late, Late Show on CBS and is favourite to take over The Late Show from David Letterman”.

BBC News – Magazine – “30 more famous Britons you’ve probably never heard”

Several US talk show hosts were featured on a new episode of Family Guy which premiered in America on the 3rd May.

They appeared as part of a scene talking about a relationship between Brian and Lauren Conrad (from MTV’s The Hills) on the show, and how it’s being reported on TV.

Jimmy Fallon, Craig Ferguson and Jay Leno were featured with specially-made clips from the real life talk shows.

Click here to watch the Family Guy clip

The Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson stopped by the Late Show With David Letterman on Wednesday.

Click here to watch the interview in full

Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson will stop by the Late Show on Wednesday (18th March) as a guest.

Craig has been the host of the Late Late Show since January 2005, which airs directly after the Late Show on CBS.

The last time Craig Ferguson was a guest on the Late Show was the 25th April last year.

Entertainment Weekly (EW.com) has ranked Stephen Colbert and The Colbert Report team as number two in The 25 Funniest People In America. They say “week-in and week-out, Colbert takes aim at the political-industrial complex — and I don’t care if there’s no such term — and spins the facts into truth. Or truthiness. Whichever’s easier”. The Judd Apatow Posse were number one in the list and Tina Fey came in at third place. Jon Stewart and The Daily Show team came fourth, Conan O’Brien ranked 11th, David Letterman came in at 17th place and Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson was 19th.

Entertainment Weekly (EW.com) – “The 25 Funniest People in America”

The host of the Late Late Show – Craig Ferguson – is rumoured to be top of the list to replace David Letterman on the Late Show when he retires from the CBS talk show in a few years. The Late Late Show – which airs directly after the Late Show With David Letterman on CBS in America and is produced by Letterman’s own production company Worldwide Pants Inc – has been a favourite with late night TV viewers and he recently – briefly – overtook Conan O’Brien in the ratings, beating Late Night With Conan O’Brien’s viewing figures.

Craig Ferguson recently ‘gigged’ at a George W. Bush press event & dinner, which he impressed 3000 people at what The Times say is “the toughest dinner-club comedy gig in the world”. The Times also say “it has put Ferguson… into the front row of contenders to take over the chat show hosted by his CBS stablemate Letterman when the veteran compere bows out gracefully over the next few years”. Scotsman Craig started out as a standup comedian under his alter ego of ‘Bing Hitler’ before he got the Late Late Show gig.

Times Online – “Craig Ferguson ‘may be next Letterman’”

CBS have really been on the ball since these shows returned – they have regularly been uploading the Late Show and Late Late Show monologues to their YouTube channel, which is nice for us UK viewers – especially Craig Ferguson clips, as we don’t get to see the Late Late Show on UK TV. CBS’s videos of the monologues from Friday’s US shows are embedded below for your enjoyment.

Last updated 16:05

The first new episode in about 2 months last night in the US – the Late Show is back. Reports of the show (I have not seen it yet) reveal Letterman came out onto the stage “through a chorus line of dancers holding signs that read, “Writers Guild of America on Strike”, and sporting a full beard he grew during his eight-week break”. Dave looks very different with a beard – as far as I can tell, Dave (and Conan too) has grown a beard as a sign of unity for the WGA strike.

See a picture of Dave with the beard here (KansasCity.com)
A video of Conan sporting his new beard is available at Late Night Underground

Letterman joked about being glad to get out of rehab and “show or no show I really enjoy drinking in the morning”. Dave told everyone he’s the only show to be back with union-backed writers. Before the show titles, Hillary Clinton popped up to welcome us back to the Late Show. Donald Trump wasn’t on the first show back, as was previously thought – Robin Williams was instead. Watch Dave’s monologue here, check out the Top Ten list and see Bill Scheft’s message to the Late Show audience.

BBC News have a report on the return of the chat shows, including some clips from Letterman, Leno and Craig Ferguson. Head on over to the BBC News article to read more and the news report video is available here.

Jay Leno returned with new episodes of The Tonight Show last night – but without his writers. The Kansas City website (TV Barn) said “Leno’s monologue was remarkably ordinary” and that Leno “was trying to pretend like it was business as usual”. Late Night With Conan O’Brien was back – but without his writers. Conan – sporting a new beard – returned last night. The Kansas City website says “O’Brien is better positioned than Leno to stick out a long strike, thanks to stronger interviewing skills”. Craig Ferguson was also back with new episodes of the Late Late Show. Craig had his writing staff with him – as this was covered in the Letterman deal – and started off the first show back with “As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted”. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report remain off air, will be returning with new shows starting from the 7th January.

Late Show UK – “Return of the Late Night shows” (By James)
ABC News – “Bearded Letterman back after two months”
KansasCity.com (TV Barn) – “Who won late night? It’s a close shave”
Late Night Underground – “An Important Message From Conan O’Brien”
Late Show UK – Guest Listings
BBC News – “US TV’s talk show titans return”

David Letterman’s planned deal with the Writers Guild of America has been rejected, meaning the originally proposed return in January is in doubt. It was hoped they would reach a deal to allow Letterman and his writing staff to return to work, and to produce new episodes of the Late Show. The Associated Press says “absent a deal, the CBS show’s goal of returning to the air with live episodes on Jan. 2 is still up in the air” and “Rob Burnett, president and CEO of Worldwide Pants, didn’t say much more”. Without the Letterman deal, it would also mean continued reruns for Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson. All the other chat shows are still expected to return, as planned, on the 7th January.

The Associated Press – “No Deal for Letterman and TV Writers”

Media website Digital Spy say Donald Trump will be appearing on the first Late Show back. They say “were an agreement to be reached, it would give CBS a competitive edge over NBC, where Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien will be returning with new episodes of their respective programmes also on January 2 but without monologue-creating writers”. Watch this space.

Digital Spy – “Trump booked for first new ‘Late Show’”

It has been confirmed The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report will be both be returning to the air with new shows on Comedy Central from the 7th January. The Los Angeles Times says “After a previously scheduled two-week hiatus, “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” will resume production Jan. 7, Comedy Central said in a statement released late Thursday afternoon” but “Stewart and Colbert said they wished they could return to work with their writers”. I also noticed yesterday that More 4 in the UK have started airing The Daily Show again – last night’s rerun on there featured the Barack Obama interview.

The article on the Los Angeles Times website also states Letterman’s production company (Worldwide Pants Inc) will be “meeting with Writers Guild of America officials today in an effort to make an interim deal that would allow the shows to go back on the air with their writing staffs”. The Associated Press says “Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel have all said they would resume their programs on Jan. 2 without their writing staffs” and “Letterman is also aiming for a Jan. 2 return”. If the deal with Worldwide Pants goes through, this would also mean the return of the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson.

Los Angeles Times – “Stewart, Colbert to return to air in January”
The Associated Press – “Letterman’s Company to Meet With Writers”

The Broadcasting & Cable website is now reporting there’s a likely return date for the Late Show With David Letterman. The writers strike continues, but most of the late night US chat shows are to return to the air whilst it rolls on. We reported yesterday that Leno and Conan were planning on coming back with new shows on NBC starting from the 2nd January (without writers), and that Letterman would be back as well, but a date was not known for certain. Now it seems Letterman will be returning with new episodes on the 2nd January as well (but he’s hoping to have his writers back as well). In addition to this, the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson is expected to return on the same night.

No news has been revealed about when to expect new episodes of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, but it’s thought they won’t return until the writers strike is over (Multichannel News website article here). I hope The Tony Mendez Show returns to CBS.com when the Late Show comes back in January – I would assume it will return at the same time (although Tony may be on the picket lines, so perhaps not). The Broadcasting & Cable website says “David Letterman’s production company, Worldwide Pants, targeted Jan. 2 for the return of its two late-night shows, The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. But while late-night hosts Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel plan to resurface the same night, sans writers, Letterman’s shows plan to return with their writing staffs intact”. Digital Spy also has some news on “reaching agreements with individual producers”.

The return of the Late Show is not a moment too soon – here’s a message from Late Show Videotape Operator Tom Catusi (from the Late Show Writers On Strike YouTube channel) – it looks like it’s been snowing in New York;

B&C – “WGA STRIKE UPDATE: Letterman, Ferguson Target Jan. 2 Return”
Multichannel News – “Comedy Central: No Call Yet On Stewart, Colbert Returns”
Late Show Writers On Strike – Official Website
YouTube – Late Show Writers On Strike
Digital Spy – “WGA seeks to bypass AMPTP”

David Letterman looks very close to accepting a deal with the Writers Guild Of America (WGA) – according to The Money Times “David Letterman is currently in the middle of negotiating a deal with the union that would allow his late night show to go on air again from the beginning of January”. The deal would allow Letterman to use writers’ material – and should also mean the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson returns at the same time – because the deal would be with Worldwide Pants who produce both the Late Show and the Late Late Show. The Money Times also reports Jon Stewart is close to working out a similar deal.

The Money Times – “David Letterman Looks to Break WGA Strike Deadlock”

The Hollywood Reporter is also talking about David Letterman’s new proposed deal – “The deal would allow the late-night show to come back on the air with its entire staff, including scribes, intact” – and also says “Worldwide Pants’ individual talks with the WGA might also be a precursor to a new direction in the WGA’s negotiation strategy. The guild has decided to begin approaching AMPTP companies and try to negotiate with them individually”.

The Hollywood Reporter – “Worldwide Pants fit for deal with WGA”

Reuters say “A spokesman for Letterman’s company, WorldWide Pants, noted the company is an independent producer and can sign an interim deal outside the talks between the writers guild and the producers alliance. The company also produces “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” on CBS”.

Reuters – “Hollywood moguls show their unity in strike”

Another website – TV By The Numbers – thinks “that’s great for Dave, great for Dave’s writers, great for Dave’s non-writing staff (assuming that Dave might eventually stop paying them as he has since the beginning of the strike), but very bad for the WGA as a whole”.

TV By The Numbers – “A Separate Letterman Deal is Bad For the WGA”

BBC News – “Letterman’s company, Worldwide Pants – which also makes Scottish comic Craig Ferguson’s US talk show – said that, as an independent producer, it could negotiate with the Writers Guild separately from the AMPTP”.

BBC News – “Studios ‘united’ in Hollywood row”