Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Craig Ferguson Quits Late Late Show

Yesterday, Craig Ferguson announced that he will be leaving The Late Late Show in December. He said that he wanted to quit before he stopped enjoying what he was doing. Despite his assurances that he was going to quit before the David Letterman retirement announcement, I don't think that is probably what happened. I think what kept him going was the thought of getting that coveted time slot and when that didn't happen he didn't want to be around any longer. So, now that leaves an opening for Chelsea Handler again. Chelsea met with CBS and they said it was only to discuss a daytime slot and then Netflix has been mentioned as a possible landing spot for Chelsea. I don't think the Netflix thing would be good for Chelsea. Lots of people have Netflix, but nothing compared to the reach of a network or even E! for that matter.

I think CBS brought in Chelsea when Craig told them he was going to be leaving and being assured that he was going to receive his $5M for being passed over for the earlier slot. I guess if you are a network and you are going to make changes to your late night lineup that you might as well make changes to both at roughly the same time. Since Craig is leaving in December it will give a huge boost to the new Late Late show host to have Letterman's final few months and very high ratings be a boost for the new host.

40 comments:

Steampunk Jazz said...

Nooooooo!

sandybrook said...

Chelsea would be a huge downgrade as a replacement for anybody, much less Craig Ferguson.

Unknown said...

I heard he was getting $10m not $5m.

Either way, big pile o cash!

Simon said...

I'd take the 5M and move on...

Henriette said...

He's the only one I liked :( He's leaving with Letterman.

WareCat said...

Omg!
Craig dn't leave me, plz.

& fuck u, Chelsea.
Ur not funny.

Steampunk Jazz said...

Whyyyy!
He is the king of late late night. Has anyone heard rumors that he has other options?

sandybrook said...

Usually a guy will move on if he's passed over for a better job in any company. And many times they wind up in better shape.

Henriette said...

I wonder if he gets to take Geof and Secretariat with him?

Unknown said...

Enty, I respectfully disagree with you. Call me naive, but i believe every word he said in The Variety. It's going to be sad seeing him go. He's the best.

Steampunk Jazz said...

But sandy, as much as I love him, he is not a good actor. His standup is adequate but there isn't much out there with as much exposure as network. Perhaps he is going to concentrate on his writing...
I feel betrayed :'(

Henriette said...

He's show is produced by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants, so his fate was always tied to Letterman's. It was a weird arrangement to have that time slot when Dave moved over from NBC. Now CBS gets that time slot back to do whatever they want with it, and I hope it does not involve Chelsea Handler. I bet Jay Leno or Regis Phelbin would take it though.

melissa said...

He is my favorite too

sandybrook said...

Fox needs a late night show maybe he will head over there.

Henriette said...

Roger Friedman called this back when Letterman announced his retirement.

I would love to see Craig do the Price Is Right and move out Drew Carey, who annoys me.

Remember, Craig has that game show in the fall.

Unknown said...

I bet Craig got paid double to leave sooner. Good deal for him if he was planning on leaving anyway. He has many talents so he should have no problem keeping busy.

Unknown said...

Jay Leno put the 11:30 crowd to sleep.

Sarah said...

I hope he finds a new late night home!!! I'm going to miss his show terribly!! He's great and funny and DIFFERENT.

Unknown said...

He should have a talk show in Scotland and then let us watch it here. Personally I think the Graham Norton show is the best talk show out there in the world, so glad BBC Canada shows it here. He manages to get the biggest names together on a couch and entertaining things happen.

Henriette said...

He should do a talk show with just Scottish guests because that is so hilarious! His accent gets deeper and there are these weird inside jokes and everyone is having a good time.

Unknown said...

Indeed Henriette, love the word Numpty.

Count Jerkula said...

If FOX was ever going to make a move into the Late Nite Wars, now would be the time. Sign Leno and Ferguson, and have instant audience.

Seven of Eleven said...

What Warecat said.

Chelsea would be perfect for late night TV. Everyone knows she's afraid of light.

MISCH said...

Ah love him

Lady Heisenberg said...

Nooooooooooooooo :(

auntliddy said...

Except the audience.

MollyMo said...

Agreed, I love Craig Ferguson. He seems to genuinely have the best heart.

IceQueen said...

I guess I'll have to settle for listening to him on Pandora to help soften this blow. :(

Anonymous said...

oh FFS.

he is deft at tickling my funny bone.

((quite pissed))

Tru said...

I wouldn't watch Chelsea Handler if she appeared daily in my head.

Sherry said...

I agree Tina. Graham Norton is pretty awesome. let's cross our fingers and hope he never comes to America and does a show here. We'll fucking suck all the fun out of it.

Runswithscissors said...

Yes Tina, GN is THE best. I can only watch his shows on YouTube, my guess is bbc America cuts parts off. Don't even want to bother watching GN on bbc America.
As for Craig Ferguson, I think he is honest, he's tired of doing the show, gets to leave with $10 mil, doesn't give a damn how the world spins. He is good.

Princess ButterKwup said...

Bright side: I now have no reason to ever stay up late.

riotgrrrl said...

A FB group I follow called I Fucking Love Science recently announced that it's being made into a show and hosted by mr. craig ferg himself! I'm excited! Recently just saw his standup too and as a Canadian, died at his Canuck jokes :)

Stephanie23 said...

I'll miss Craig! Plus side, one more hour of sleep!

Elissa said...

Sucks to see Craig go, but it does seem like he's been off his game for a while now and probably needs to do something different. I love that his guests (mostly) seem to feel so much more comfortable there than other talk shows.

Smart money says that Comedy Central tries to grab him up.

If Chelsea Handler gets his show, I will not only refuse to watch it, I will boycott every CBS show for the entirety of her hold on that slot.

feraltart said...

Wish him the best & I like Chelsea so I wouldn't mind if she took over.
Love Graham Norton. If you get a chance look up Youtube for the Graham Norton show with Stanley Tucci & Miriam Margolyes. Absolutely hysterical.

Sprink said...

Miriam Margoyles with Will.I.Am (what a decking pain to type, just call yourself Billy, ffs) was a classic piece of Graham.

If watch those two guests I'm their own reality series, Nd I generally do not watch reality (because, you know, life and all that).

evie2345 said...

I agree also- he is one of the few I believe tells the truth, and he has clearly said he did not want Dave's job.
I am very sad to see him go, but hopefully he will go on to bigger and better things.

Unknown said...

He was willing to stay for 9 million a year, which was his demand. Basically getting paid as if he was a 11:00 hr guy even if he was in the 12:00 hr.

CBS in the end decided it wasn't worth it and will likely go in an entirely new direction. Yep WWP has produced that slot since Tom Snyder started, but Dave is likely folding that whole property up now and truley retiring for good.

Alot is still up in the air at CBS, they haven't even decided if Colbert will be in NY or LA, if they are going to re-use the Ed Sullivan theatre, or what town the 12:30 show will be in. It's quite possible 11:30 will be in LA now, and 12:30 in NY.

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