Without a doubt, Craig Ferguson was one of the most unique and groundbreaking talents in late-night television. While Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, and David Letterman may be known as being those who made the genre pop, Craig reconstructed it... Rather, he deconstructed it.

While Craig's personal life, including his addiction issues and his multiple wives and divorces, may have been filled with drama, his work life wasn't. Not only does Craig have a massive stand-up comedy career, but he was also part of an incredibly successful sitcom (The Drew Carey Show), is an award-winning writer/director, a best-selling author, and had a talk show with undeniably the biggest cult following around.

Craig Ferguson hosting late late show
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The Late Late Show featured relaxed AF interviews with celebrities who appeared to genuinely like the somewhat flirtatious Craig. It also had some in-depth and candid conversations that landed Craig a Peabody Award. Oh, and there was a Gay robot skeleton sidekick, a bunch of puppets, an outlandish Angela Landsbury impression, endless running gags, and two interns in a horse costume that danced whenever Craig hit a button...

The show was outrageous and truly special.

But it still followed the big-whig... David Letterman. A man who commanded one of the most successful talk shows of all time... although car collector Jay Leno would probably argue that his was more popular. Regardless, when David stepped down after 33 years, everyone thought Craig was going to take it over.

But he didn't... The gig went to Stephen Colbert and Craig left his own talk show the same year. There are endless articles about how Craig was screwed out of the gig... but what does Craig actually feel about it all?

Craig Ferguson and David Letterman late late show
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He Didn't Want It! And He Really Wants You To Believe That

During a 2014 segment on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Craig Ferguson was asked to play "Plead The Fifth". Right out of the gate, he was asked by a viewer about whether or not he was angry about not taking over David Letterman's job.

"On a scale from one to ten," Andy begun, reading the question from a viewer at home. "How pissed were you that you didn't get Letterman's show?"

"One being 'not pissed', ten being 'very pissed'?" Craig asked.

"Yeah."

"I would say about 0.5."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"You did not want it?" Andy asked, trying to confirm what Craig had said.

"No, I've been saying it for years," Craig said. "The only thing that pisses me off is that nobody ever, ever believes you."

"Guess what?" Andy asked.

"What?"

"I believe you."

"Thank you. It's because you do this kind of job," Craig said referring to how taxing work on a talk show can be.

Related: Here’s How Craig Ferguson Made His $30 Million Net Worth

Letterman Leaving Presented A Unique Problem For Craig

While Craig told Howard Stern (during an interview on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show from 2017) that David Letterman was somewhat distant, David actually played a more pivotal part in how Craig worked. Or rather, how Craig avoided dealing with the unfunny suits at CBS, including now-disgraced CEO Les Moonves.

Related: The Truth About Les Moonves, According To Howard Stern

Craig first won the job when he was hand-picked by the CBS executives and David Letterman, who actually owned both his late-night time period and the one following. Therefore, Craig technically worked for David Letterman's company, according to his interview with Larry King.

"CBS were so keen to get Dave, during the late-night wars when Johnny [Carson] retired," Craig explained to Larry King in an interview from May 2019. "They offered him two hours of real taste on the network. Dave owned 11:30 at night to 1:30 in the morning. He owned that time period. So, as long as he was on the air, I didn't really have to answer to anyone at CBS. I did a little bit, but they didn't like me and I wasn't crazy about them. But Dave... Rob Burnett [producer] and David Letterman were my bodyguards."

Craig Ferguson and David Letterman cbs
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Therefore, when David Letterman announced his retirement, things for Craig changed drastically. Staying in his Late Late Show time slot or moving into Dave's position would have meant Craig having to answer to CBS... And he really didn't like that. Not to mention, there are copious reasons why Craig Ferguson actually left The Late Late Show... and a lot of them had to do with the fact that he didn't like what it was doing to him mentally.

And then there was all the money...

Craig Ferguson writing
NPR

In the same interview with Andy Cohen from earlier in the article, Craig Ferguson pled the fifth when asked about the massive settlement that he was supposedly given by CBS for him not to pursue The Late Show position that eventually went to Stephen Colbert. Given that he apparently received multiple millions and that he was totally done with late-night, it seems believable that Craig actually wasn't upset about not filling David Letterman's shoes.

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