Late Show UK

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’”

The New York Times reports that - last week - the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson overtook Late Night With Conan O’Brien in the ratings. More people were watching Craig than Conan. The Late Late Show follows David Letterman on CBS at 12.35am - the same time Late Night comes on NBC. The New York Times says “In ratings measured last week, Mr. Ferguson had more viewers than Mr. O’Brien on four of five nights and for the week overall, averaging 1.88 million viewers to 1.77 million for Mr. O’Brien”. Conan remains ahead in the 18 to 49 age bracket though.

The New York Times - “Ferguson Outdraws O’Brien”

There’s a lot of British guests coming up on the US chat shows in April and May - Russell Brand (on Letterman on the 23rd April), Craig Ferguson of the Late Late Show (on Letterman on the 25th April), Bear Grylls (on Letterman on the 1st May), Julie Andrews (on the Late Late Show on the 15th April), Morrissey (on the Late Late Show on the 18th April) and Ewan McGregor (on Leno on the 17th April). Russell Brand made his first appearance on The Tonight Show earlier this week, on the 8th April. If you missed the interview, click on the link below to view a clip. If you want to see it on TV, the Russell Brand episode of Leno is on CNBC tonight at 11pm, or you can see it on CNBC on Sunday at 8pm.

RedLasso - Russell Brand’s appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (Video)

Demi Moore, Kate Bosworth and Brian Williams will be appearing on the Late Show on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. Brit pop star (of X Factor fame) Leona Lewis will be on The Tonight Show this Monday (24th March). The Leona Lewis episode will be going out on CNBC on the 27th March at 10pm and on the 29th March at 8pm. Conan O’Brien will be on The Tonight Show this Thursday (27th March). Late Night With Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report are on reruns next week. Donald Sutherland, Trevor Eve, Natasha Kaplinsky and The Kooks will be on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross this Friday. Don’t forget to check out the Upcoming Shows box in the sidebar for the next shows to air on UK TV.

Letterman guest highlights: Jim Carrey and Paula Abdul will be dropping by to the Late Show on Monday, Snoop Dogg on Tuesday, Charlize Theron on Wednesday and Kate Beckinsale will be in the Ed Sullivan Theatre on Thursday. The always-funny Brian Regan will be on the Late Show on Friday - no doubt performing top-notch standup. Someone else who’s always pretty funny - Al Franken - will be on the show on the 18th March, along with British band The Cribs. If you’re watching the Late Show on Diva TV - Will Ferrell is on Monday at 9pm, Courteney Cox on Tuesday at 9pm, Natalie Portman (and the hilarious Kid Scientists segment) on Wednesday at 9pm, British chef & TV personality Jamie Oliver on Thursday at 9pm and Woody Harrelson will be on Friday’s show at 9pm.

Leno guest highlights: Dominic Monaghan and Sheryl Crow will be appearing on The Tonight Show on Monday, America Ferrera (from Ugly Betty) will be there on Tuesday, Bill Cosby & music from Gavin DeGraw will appear on Wednesday’s show and Deal Or No Deal’s Howie Mandel will be on Thursday’s show. Minnie Driver and Paula Abdul will be on with Jay on Thursday and Friday respectively. The following week sees Kate Beckinsale and New York band The Bravery stopping by. If you’re watching The Tonight Show on CNBC - Heidi Klum will be on the show on Monday at 10pm.

Conan guest highlights: Paul Giamatti and Snoop Dogg will be on Late Night on Monday and Wednesday respectively, and Meredith Vieira will make an appearance on Thursday’s show. The following week, Conan will be joined by Martha Stewart (17th March) and Ice-T (18th March) amongst other guests. 24th-28th March will be a week of reruns. If you’re watching Late Night on CNBC - Shows only air Saturdays and Sundays and the guests for these are to be confirmed.

Other shows: Craig Ferguson is on reruns next week, but when he returns on the 17th March he will be joined by Ray Romano and Kate Beckinsale on the 18th March. Friday Night With Jonathan Ross won’t be on BBC One next Friday (14th) because of BBC Sport Relief 2008 - Jonathan Ross will return the following week (guests TBC).

See guest listings in full at www.lateshowuk.com/guest-listings.

The Associated Press is reporting the ratings for all the late night chat shows stayed very much the same throughout the writers strike. The AP says people “made little difference in their viewing habits” despite all the shows (except Letterman and Craig Ferguson) not having their writing teams onboard. The Associated Press report The Daily Show With Jon Stewart kept steady ratings as “the 1.6 million viewers he averaged during January was the same as he had last year”, and The Colbert Report’s “1.2 million last month was actually up 6 percent from the 2007 average”. Jay Leno “averaged 5.17 million viewers since his return” and Letterman “increased from 3.8 million pre-strike to 4.05 million after he went back on the air after the new year”. Conan O’Brien’s ratings remained largely unchanged averaging “just over 2 million people nightly” last month. The ratings data came from Nielsen Media Research. The strike ended yesterday, and all writers are now back at work, and “A Daily Show With Jon Stewart” changed it’s name back to “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” to signify the return of the writing staff.

The Associated Press - “Strike Barely Hits Late-Night Ratings”

After 14 weeks, the Writers Guild of America strike is now over. WGA members voted for a deal with the AMPTP and it’s reported the deal was approved by 92.5% of those members. Writers have been on strike in the US since early November 2007, following a dispute over the amount of money they get for online and DVD sales of their work. The new deal addresses those issues, and all writers return to work this week. The US TV industry has been cripplied by the strike, meaning such networks as Fox needing to bring in American Idol and other reality shows & unscripted programming to fill the gaps left behind by scripted comedy and drama that couldn’t be produced. The movie industry hasn’t been affected as much as TV, as films are made over a much longer timespan than TV series.

The BBC News website reports “the strike is said to have cost Los Angeles’ film and TV industry around $733m (£374m), with the wider economy losing around $1.3bn (£663m)” and that we can expect new programmes in “about two months”. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Late Night With Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report all have their writing teams back and new shows are already being made. The Late Show With David Letterman and the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson have had their writing team since January, when David Letterman’s production company Worldwide Pants Inc agreed an interim deal.

The Oscars (which are being hosted by The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart this year) can now go ahead as planned, with writers for the ceremony needing to produce immense numbers of scripts in a short timespan before the show airs on the 24th February. Speaking to the BBC, the boss of CBS Les Moonves said “At the end of the day, everybody won”. Media website Digital Spy report “The result - with nearly 3,500 for and 283 against the agreement - was announced yesterday evening Pacific Time, during the early hours of today GMT”.

BBC News - “Hollywood writers to end strike”
Digital Spy - “US writers’ strike officially ends”
BBC News - “Writers prepare to return to work”

The US writers strike appears to be coming to an end. The Writers Guild of America says they have reached a “tentative deal” and Reuters report “members will meet in New York and Los Angeles later on Saturday to discuss specific terms, the ratification process and ending the strike, the union added”. Media news website Digital Spy add “America’s television production industry could be back in business as early as Monday” and that “WGA East members will gather at 2pm Eastern time today in New York to discuss the agreement; the WGA West meeting is scheduled for 7pm Pacific in Los Angeles”.

This deal will end the strike, meaning all shows will get their writing team back. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Late Night With Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report have all been making shows without their original writers when they returned to the air in January. David Letterman’s production company Worldwide Pants Inc reached an interim deal previously, meaning the Late Show With David Letterman and the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson have both had its writing team back since the show returned in January. The deal that’s been reached will now mean the Oscars awards ceremony can now go ahead as planned. Update: You can read the WGA statement here - which also gives full details of the terms & conditions of this new deal.

Reuters - “Striking writers reach tentative deal with studios”
Digital Spy - “WGA: “We have a tentative deal”"
Telegraph - “Oscars saved as Hollywood writers’ strike ends”
The Movie Blog - “The WGA Strike is Over”

To sign the petition to get the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on UK television, please click here.

This is a petition created to show there’s a fanbase for the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson in the UK. We would like to raise awareness that people living in the UK would love to see this programme via cable, Sky or Freeview. We are calling on television broadcasters to consider airing the show on their channels. Diva TV currently airs the Late Show With David Letterman, so it would be ideal if they could air the Late Late Show as well.

Please also go to our Petitions page to find the link for our CNBC Europe petition.

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.

The first Late Late Show monologue since the writers strike began (in two parts);

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”

As per the other major late night US chat shows, Letterman will also be returning to the air in January with brand new shows, it has been confirmed. David Letterman has reached a deal with the WGA to allow the Late Show to return, with his normal writing staff. The US writers strike continues - Letterman’s deal is separate. Reuters report “The Writers Guild of America called its pact with Letterman’s production company, WorldWide Pants Inc, a sign of union readiness to negotiate a deal with major film and TV studios to settle Hollywood’s worst labor crisis in 20 years” and they also say “Letterman reached a deal on Friday”. Craig Ferguson’s chat show - the Late Late Show - will also return with their original writing staff intact. Both the Late Show and the Late Late Show are produced by Letterman’s own production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated, who reached the deal with the WGA last week. There is expected to be new episodes of the Late Show and the Late Late Show on CBS starting this coming Wednesday (2nd January).

NBC chat shows The Tonight Show and Late Night will also return to the air with new shows on the 2nd January. Comedy Central will air new episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report from the 7th January. The Tonight Show, Late Night, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report will all return without the writing staff - it is only the Late Show that will return with the full writing team intact, due to the individual deal Letterman has reached with the WGA. Reuters also reveal “among the celebrity guests slated to appear on Letterman’s first show back next week is real estate tycoon turned reality TV star Donald Trump, according to producer Rob Burnett”.

On the Late Show this week;

Monday 31st December - Jim Carrey, Alanis Morissette (Rerun)
Tuesday 1st January - George Clooney, the Decemberists (Rerun)
Wednesday 2nd January - Robin Williams, Lupe Fiasco, a special appearance by Hillary Clinton
Thursday 3rd January - Bill Maher, Ellen Page, the cast of Broadway’s “Young Frankenstein”
Friday 4th January - Donald Trump, Shooter Jennings

On The Tonight Show this week;

Monday 31st December - Justin Timberlake, Masi Oka, Matisyahu (Rerun)
Tuesday 1st January - Will Ferrell, Vince Young, Flipsyde (Rerun)
Wednesday 2nd January - Gov. Mike Huckabee, Chingy
Thursday 3rd January - TBA
Friday 4th January - TBA

On Late Night this week;

Monday 31st December - Pre-empted
Tuesday 1st January - Will Arnett, Terri Crews, Patti Scialfa (Rerun)
Wednesday 2nd January - Bob Saget, Dwayne Perkins, Robert Gordon & Chris Spedding
Thursday 3rd January - TBA
Friday 4th January - TBA

On the Late Late Show this week;

Monday 31st December - Dr. Drew Pinsky, Bob Spitz (Rerun)
Tuesday 1st January - Famke Janssen, Jami Gertz, Chris Botti & Paula Cole (Rerun)
Wednesday 2nd January - No guests on tonight’s show
Thursday 3rd January - Dominic Monaghan, Jason Randal
Friday 4th January - Leonard Nimoy, Lyle Lovett, Dean Edwards

On that positive news, Late Show UK would like to wish you all a very happy new year, and we hope you had a great Christmas.

Reuters - “Letterman to return in deal with striking writers”
BBC News - “Letterman to return with writers”

Post last updated 3rd January 2008.

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”