Before deciding to end his tenure on The Late Late Show in 2014, comedian Craig Ferguson brought both edgy and highbrow humor to what was previously an under-watched and underappreciated show. While the show has gone in a much different direction with host James Corden, who traded in the avant-garde comedy elements Ferguson brought to favor more explicit dependence on celebrities, Ferguson deserves credit for making The Late Late Show as popular as it is today.
One thing that Ferguson did, and loved to do, was invite authors as guests on his show. Among his list of honorable invitees were Salman Rushdie, Neil Gaiman, John Irving, and Anne Rice. Most late night talk shows do not have many writers on air these days, or if they do it’s usually celebrities who have also happened to write books, like Emily Ratajowksi who recently wrote a book and promoted it on Late Night With Seth Meyers. Ferguson was different from other late night hosts, as one will read later in this article, and he is also a prominent author himself. Ferguson, before leaving CBS, was keeping alive a once time honored tradition of late night talk. Here is why Craig Ferguson loved having authors on The Late Late Show.
6 Craig Ferguson Is Very Literate
Many people do not realize this, but Ferguson is incredibly intelligent and very well-read. In addition to being a writer himself, his stand-up routines register more as one-man shows lampooning everything about our society, including his fellow Hollywood celebrities. Ferguson is also a huge history buff. After leaving Late Late, Ferguson had a short-lived show on the History Channel titled Join or Die where he would discuss bizarre aspects of American history. Ferguson is such a history fan, he has a famous American Revolution graphic that was designed by Benjamin Franklin tattooed on his forearm. Fun Fact: Ferguson’s tattoo also says “Join or Die.”
5 Craig Ferguson Liked Keeping His Show Different
Ferguson knew he was coming into a show with low ratings as Late Late does not air until almost 1:00 am. Not only that, he was relatively unknown before getting the show, although at the time he was working as a supporting character on The Drew Carey Show. He played Nigel Wick, Drew’s drug-addled British boss, which is funny because Ferguson is quite famously Scottish. Both shows were famous for being more out there than traditional talk shows and sitcoms, featuring bizarre bits like random musical skits and talking skeletons (see below). Having authors on his show added to its distinctive quality.
4 Craig Ferguson Hates Hollywood Pandering
Watch Fegursons stand up special A Wee Bit O Revolution and one will see that while it was his job to interview celebrities, he was not one to be a Hollywood fake the way other hosts are, like how some accuse his replacement James Corden of being an opportunistic panderer. In the routine, Ferguson is very upfront about how he is not “friends” with other celebrities from his former network. Ferguson is also very blunt about how some celebrities need to “shut up about things they know nothing about!” Those were his exact words about Tom Cruise’s controversial statements about mental illness. Unlike some contemporary talk show hosts and interviewers, no one can accuse Ferguson of pandering.
3 It’s A Dying Art On Talk Shows
For some reason, authors have been appearing less and less on late night talk shows. An interesting turn of events because they were once a staple for guests that were invited. Before Conan cut his show down to a half-hour, his guests would be one celebrity, one-second guest that was usually a director, author, or a budding comedian, and either a comedy or musical act to finish. This was the common formula followed by all late shows because it was the model that was set by one of the best talk show hosts to have ever lived.
2 It Is a Nod To The Late Johnny Carson
The above-mentioned formula was the formula set by Johnny Carson, the longest-running host of The Tonight Show. Carson loved to not only host celebrities and comedians, but authors and all kinds of personalities that were prevalent in American news headlines at the time. Even Martin Luther King Jr appeared on The Tonight Show a few times. Carson also had the privilege of befriending and interviewing great American authors like Stephen King, Truman Capote, and Steve Allen, who was also a contemporary talk show host popular during Carson’s era. Allen also had several authors on his show, most famously Jack Kerouac.
1 Because Why Not!?
Ferguson, ever the rebel, had one of the least desirable time slots for a show. After midnight is not exactly prime time for network viewers, and Ferguson was already one to embrace the low viewership to get away with making his show different from the rest, like how his sidekick was Geoff Peterson, the animatronic suit-wearing skeleton. In other words, he could do whatever the heck he wanted, and being the intelligent man of letters that he is, he wanted to interview writers. It has been a while since a writer has impressed the world to the point they became a celebrity, and perhaps one day soon we will see writers grace the stage with Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show once again.