Thursday, March 26, 2015

TLLS

I've been watching James Corden's first week as host of The Late Late Show, and I'm pleasantly surprised.  Corden is warm and funny.  He has charisma, and it really looks like he's having a good time.

Clearly, this isn't Craig Ferguson's The Late Late Show.  Ferguson was outrageous as he took that show to new and different places.  The Corden version is considerably more glitzy and show bizzy.  It's clear CBS sunk some serious money into the production, which never happened for Ferguson.

Corden has added a few twists.  Guests enter from the back of the studio, which appears awkward.  The guests make their way through high fiving audience members.  Mila Kunis clearly looked uncomfortable on opening night.  Also, both guests are interviewed at the same time.  It's great if there's chemistry.  A disaster if they do not.  I fear there will be more misses than hits.

Ferguson was famous for ripping up the note cards prepared by researchers and talent coordinators.  Corden is glued to his cards, but he's new.  I'm sure the interviewing will become better.  Even Letterman couldn't ask a good question at the beginning.

The name's the same, and the talk genre is the same, but the Ferguson and Corden shows are two vastly different animals.  You really can't compare the two.  While I miss Ferguson and robot skeleton sidekick Geoff Peterson every night, Corden might grow on me.