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The Scotland Shows Are Here
We first got wind of the story last December that Craig Ferguson might be taking the Late Late Show to Scotland. He was there to tape a week’s worth of shows in March and the excitement has been building ever since. To help promote the show, Craig will be on The Price Is Right on CBS, Chelsea Lately on E! and on Entertainment Tonight on Monday.  Check your local listings for the time “in your region.” Here, Craig speaks with Global TV in Canada about the upcoming shows. Please note: The story includes several brief clips from the week’s shows. Mild spoilers ahead! It’s a great week for America, everybody!

Video courtesy: Global TV

Win a Trip to Scotland!
If Craig’s Late Late Show in Scotland episodes get you inspired about visiting, why not take a chance to win a trip? You can, thanks to CBS and Visit Scotland, the official tourism agency of the country. Check out the details on the CBS website. You must enter by May 31st and take the trip within a year.


Scotland Episodes Draw Attention
Media outlets are previewing the Scotland episodes, including (mild spoilers ahead!) the New York Post, the website Examiner.com and Scotland’s Arbroath Herald, which hopes the exposure the historic region will receive in the United States will encourage tourism. Finally, Scotland’s Daily Record previews the shows, including an interview with Craig who says he was pleasantly surprised by how nice it was to be back home. Thanks to the RSA’s @cozyhobo, @missgraoully, @joannapowers2 and many more for their tips!

Craig in the Studio
For the past week, we’ve enjoyed reading about the RSA’s @NancyInTampa‘s trip to California in April to see four of Craig’s live stand up comedy performances. In her final installment, Nancy tells us about how she stayed in California an extra day to catch a taping of the Late Late Show at CBS Television City. A big thank you Nancy for a wonderful week of stories to share with the rest of the RSA. And remember, we always appreciate tips and contributions from our readers. If you have a Craig-related story to tell, please send it our way!

King of Late Night
The PBS anthology series American Masters will feature a two hour special on Monday evening on longtime Tonight Show host Johnny Carson. The New York Times story about the special does not mention Craig among the many hosts whose shows can trace their formats to Carson. But the Washington Post does talk about Craig near the end of the article, saying nice things about him. Thanks to the RSA’s Gus for the link!

The website Examiner.com recently posted a pair of interviews comedians Carl Reiner and Drew Carey, who talk about Carson. In Carey’s interview, he also talks about why Craig is such a great talk show host. Thanks to the RSA’s @cozyhobo for the link!

Ariel Tweto

This Week’s Guests
All this week on the Late Late Show, enjoy Craig’s return to Scotland.   On Monday, Craig’s guests are Mila Kunis, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rashida Jones, David Sedaris and Ariel Tweto.  Tuesday, Craig visits the historic town of Arbroath with Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond and Rashida Jones.  Wednesday, Craig returns to his hometown of Cumbernauld with Michael Clarke Duncan.  Craig visits Scotland’s two largest cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh, with Mila Kunis on Thursday.  And on Friday, Craig visits Glamis Castle, the former home of Queen Elizabeth, with David Sedaris and Ariel Tweto.  Plus, all week, we’ll enjoy the music of Glasgow-based band The Imagineers, who will be performing a special version of the show’s theme song.

The Late Late Show Theme – Imagineers Style
Glasgow-based band The Imagineers will be performing the theme song of the Late Late Show during the week of May 14th through the 18th, as Craig Ferguson visits his homeland. Take a listen!

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DVR Alert
Craig Ferguson was interviewed by Chris Jacobs at Entertainment Tonight this week. It appears that the interview will be broadcast on Monday, just before the Scotland episodes begin. Also on Monday, watch for an interview with Craig on the website newsreviewsinterviews.com, Craig’s appearance on The Price Is Right on CBS and his interview on Chelsea Lately on E! Check your local listings for the time “in your region.”


A Little Heckling
The UK’s Daily Record newspaper notes that actor Sanjeev Kohli will be making a cameo appearance during Craig’s week of shows from Scotland, as a heckler in the crowd. Thanks to the RSA’s @MissGraoully for the link!

A California Detour
All this week, we’ve been featuring stories from the RSA’s @NancyInTampa, who traveled to California in April to see four of Craig’s stand up comedy shows and attend a taping of the LLS. In today’s post, Nancy had the chance to see a different kind of live show with some famous faces on stage. Tomorrow, Nancy wraps up her trip with a visit to CBS Television City.

May Birthdays
Saturday, May 12th is the birthday of poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, actress Katharine Hepburn, baseball legend Yogi Berra and actress Malin Akerman. Sunday, May 13th is the birthday of actress Bea Arthur, singer Stevie Wonder, one of those “vampires with feelings,” actor Robert Pattinson and singer Ritchie Valens. We couldn’t resist putting up two video clips. First, alongside the fabulous Peter O’Toole, watch Katharine Hepburn in one of her finest roles as Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion In Winter, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. And then, Ritchie Valens singing what became the signature tune of his all-too-short career:

Video courtesy: oakjackson

Video courtesy: xratedcheese

Craig at Paley Center
Craig Ferguson‘s long-awaited first visit to the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles came on Thursday night, as Craig screened next week’s first episode of the Late Late Show in Scotland. After a slight delay in the start of the program due to heavy traffic in LA thanks to President Barack Obama‘s fundraising dinner at George Clooney‘s house, the audience sat back to enjoy the episode, which will be broadcast on Monday, May 14th. Craig was then interviewed on stage by Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly. He took questions from the audience and posed for pictures afterward. The Paley Center posted some fantastic photos of Craig during the show:

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For the full-sized versions of these pictures and more photos from the event, check out the Paley Center’s collection. The Paley Center may or may not post video clips of the event at some point in the future. If they do, we’ll be sure to link to them here when they become available.

Roboskellies in the Audience
Watching the tweets roll by on Thursday night, it appears that the RSA’s @bd__sd, @Colleen_Byrne, @Diane4Mail, @monroemk and @mickilee were in the audience at the Paley Center. @bd__sd compiled two compilations to give the RSA a taste of the event: One has the Paley Center’s tweets during the event, the other has a sampling of fan tweets during and after the show. Thanks to @bd__sd for putting it all together!

Craig Has Your Six
The RSA’s @JoeWatchesTV tweeted out a great link today, with some background on the lapel pin Craig was wearing:

That “6” pin @craigyferg was wearing last night? More on that at http://www.gotyour6.org/ #veterans #jobs

Video Courtesy: GotYour6Campaign

Craig’s California Tour
All this week, we’ve been posting links to the RSA’s @NancyInTampa‘s stories about her April trip to see four of Craig’s live stand up shows and a taping of the LLS in LA. In today’s post, Nancy talks about her visit to Napa and Craig’s show at the Uptown Theatre.

Scotland Shows Coming Soon
Newspapers and websites around the country, including Zap2It.com and the Daily News in Batavia, NY are talking about the Late Late Show in Scotland, which begins on Monday, May 14th. Meanwhile, Scotland’s Evening Times has an article about The Imagineers and their national television debut on the Late Late Show this week. The band snapped a photo of the story in the paper this week.  Here is the full story with thanks to @bgrhubarb for the link:

[stextbox id=”custom” caption=”The Imagineers in the Evening Times”]Imagineers get big break in USA
By LALITA AUGUSTINE

AN UNSIGNED Glasgow band will be shown on American television for a whole week, exposing them to an average of two million viewers a night.

Rock band The Imagineers were selected as the house band for hit TV programme, The Late Late Show, hosted by Scottish comedian and presenter, Craig Ferguson, when he filmed a special week of home-coming episodes at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow in March.

The Scottish episodes will now be broadcast on CBS television in the States, Monday to Friday next week, and the band will feature alongside Hollywood star guests Michael Clark Duncan, Mila Kunis and Rashida Jones, as well as First Minister Alex Salmond.

They’ll perform a selection of their songs, and have recorded their own version of the show’s theme tune, which will be used as the opening credits for the week. The band was selected after show researchers spotted them at a gig in January at the Captain’s Rest pub on Great Western Road.

Ali Greig, 23, who plays bass in the band, said: “Craig sent his team off to gigs and told them to “find me a band I would have wanted to be in 30 years ago.”

Craig, who started his career playing comedian Bing Hitler, was a drummer in his student days, playing in Glasgow punk rock band The Dreamboys, which featured actor Peter Capaldi as lead singer.

The Imagineers soon found themselves performing at the Tron Theatre in front of a live studio audience.

Ali said: “We played it as if we were playing a gig. We also recorded our own version of the theme tune and performed it live outdoors in Edinburgh. Craig Ferguson was jumping around everywhere – it was all a bit mad.”

The band’s song Imagineer was also chosen by CBS for the promo video advertising the week-long event, which saw Craig, who hails from Cumbernauld, visit various locations around the country, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Arbroath and Cumbernauld, where he paid a visit to his old school, Cumbernauld High.

Ali said: “We all thought he was cool. He’s got bags of confidence but he’s down to earth.”

With a performance coming up at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in June and new single, Spooky From A Distance, being released next Sunday, the broadcasts couldn’t have come at a better time.

Ali said: “It’s quite strange now that it’s already happened for us.

“So far, there’s been more activity on our website so it will be interesting to see how it unfolds.”[/stextbox]

Craig on The Price Is Right
Among his many television appearances leading up to the Scotland episodes being broadcast during the week of May 14th through the 18th, Craig will be appearing on The Price Is Right on Monday the 14th to give away some prizes. CBS sent a short preview of Craig’s appearance, including some jumping up and down with Drew Carey and a contestant.

Video courtesy: CBS

Tonight’s Guests
Friday on the Late Late Show, Craig welcomes TV/Radio host Larry King and actress Anna Chlumsky.

Live tweets Thursday evening:The Paley Center in Los Angeles was live tweeting during Craig’s appearance on Thursday, May 10th. You can follow them: @PaleyCenter and look for the hashtag #PaleyLiveLA to see what was said during the event or see their tweetstream on the Paley Center website. The RSA’s @bd__sd tweeted from the event, as did the RSA’s @Colleen_Byrne. We’ll have a compilation of tweets and photos from the event in our next post.


Ticket Reminder: Tickets for Craig Ferguson’s live stand up comedy performance in Greensburg, PA go on sale Friday, May 11th at 10am ET.


Craig on the WTF Podcast
Craig Ferguson has had comedian Marc Maron as a guest on the Late Late Show in the past. Today, he returned the favor by appearing on Marc’s well-regarded podcast. Enjoy a great interview as one comedian interviews another. And don’t forget, Craig will be appearing on The Price Is Right and the E! network’s Chelsea Lately on Monday, May 14th to promote his upcoming shows from Scotland. Set those DVRs!

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California Road Trip
All this week, the RSA’s @NancyInTampa is writing about her recent trip to the the west coast where she saw four of Craig’s stand up comedy shows and attended a taping of the Late Late Show. In part four of her story, she talks about heading north from San Diego to see Craig’s show in San Luis Obispo.

Steven Tyler on the LLS

Craig’s extended interview with Steven Tyler this week has been getting some attention around the interwebs, including radaronline.com, which talks about how Tyler has not yet met Simon Cowell.


The Rather Late Forecast
We’ve seen Craig’s sketches about how Prince Charles might host his own late night talk show. But what would happen if the real Prince Charles gave television a try? He did this week, while visiting the BBC in Scotland. It looks like he did a good job and had a sense of humor about it, too!

Video courtesy: ExecuKev

Tonight’s Guests
Thursday on the Late Late Show, Craig spends some time with journalist Christiane Amanpour and actress Anna Kendrick.  On Friday, Craig’s guests are TV/Radio host Larry King and actress Anna Chlumsky.

Podcast Alert: Don’t forget, Craig Ferguson will be comedian Marc Maron‘s guest Thursday on the WTF Podcast.

Craig on The Talk
Craig appeared on the CBS daytime show The Talk on Wednesday to talk about the upcoming Late Late Show episodes from Scotland. He also talks about turning 50 years old next week and tells the ladies about Haggis.

Video courtesy: Fergufool

Craig on LA TV
Craig also appeared on the local CBS-owned independent television station in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Thanks to the RSA’s @joannapowers2 for the link! Our apologies in advance for the built-in commercial.

Video courtesy: KCAL

Craig Coming Back To Denver
Craig Ferguson will be appearing in Denver on November 10, 2012 for a special performance to benefit the Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation.  Many of the tickets to the event are being sold as full tables at several different sponsorship levels, however some individual tickets are available as well.  Proceeds benefit the foundation’s efforts to treat children.

More from California
The RSA’s @NancyInTampa is blogging about her recent trip to California to see four of Craig’s live stand up shows as well as a taping of the Late Late Show.  In the third installment, she talks about the show at Humphreys in San Diego.

New Studio in September
As we and others had speculated, it appears Craig and the Late Late Show will be moving into their new studio at CBS Television City in September. Craig mentioned it on Tuesday night when he invited Steven Tyler and Arrowsmith to perform on the show. The LLS team often takes a summer break in August, so that break may be two or three weeks long this year, to allow crews enough time to make the move from Studio 58 to Studio 56 across the hall. Although we would expect a new set will be built, CBS will likely move much of the behind-the-scenes infrastructure from one studio to the other, including equipment in the control room, the show’s relatively new HD cameras, lighting and other gear. We’ll keep you posted on the move and the debut of the new studio as the day draws closer.

Tonight’s Guests
Wednesday on the Late Late Show, watch for actress Jenna Fischer and actor Danny Huston.  Thursday, Craig chats with journalist Christiane Amanpour and actress Anna Kendrick.

DVR Alert: Craig will be on the CBS daytime show The Talk on Wednesday. Check your local listings for the time “in your region.”

Craig in Snoqualmie
Seattle-area photographer David Conger was in the audience at Craig’s sold-out show at the Snoqualmie Casino in Washington on April 28th and captured a series of wonderful pictures of Craig on stage.

Craig in California

All this week, we’re featuring the RSA’s @NancyInTampa‘s blog about her recent trip to California, where she saw four of Craig’s live shows and attended a taping of the Late Late Show. In today’s installment, the show in Lancaster and some great seats.

Russian Brave Poster
As the day draws closer when the Disney/Pixar animated feature film Brave will be released, new posters are popping up, including the Russian version, as posted by DailyBlam.com.

Podcast Preview
On Thursday, comedian Marc Maron will release the latest version of his WTF Podcast, which features the one and only Craig Ferguson.  To set the mood, enjoy this preview:

Video courtesy: WTFPodChannel

Tonight’s Guests
Tuesday on the Late Late Show, Craig chats with musician Steven Tyler and actress Jaime King.  On Wednesday, Craig welcomes actress Jenna Fischer and actor Danny Huston.

Gearing Up for Scotland
As we get closer to May 14th, watch for Craig Ferguson popping up on your television screen and on your computer, as he promotes next week’s episodes of the Late Late Show in Scotland.  As we’ve been reporting, Craig will be on the CBS daytime show The Talk on Wednesday, May 9th, comedian Marc Maron‘s WTF Podcast on May 10th, The Price Is Right on May 14th and on the E! network’s Chelsea Lately on May 14th.  Check your local listings for the times “in your region.”

Paley Center Update
We spoke with the folks at the Paley Center in Los Angeles, who tell us that unfortunately, Craig’s sold-out appearance on May 10th will not be streamed live online.  However, Paley staff and some RSA members will be live tweeting during the event and plan to post photos and video clips in the days afterward.  They ask that if you want to be in on the Twitter conversation, use the hashtag #PaleyLiveLA.

A California Craig Trip
The RSA’s @NancyInTampa ventured from Florida to California, April 21st through May 1st to see Craig perform live stand up comedy in four different cities and watch the taping of an episode of the Late Late Show in Los Angeles.  She has been writing about her experience and is sharing it with us and the rest of the Robot Skeleton Army.  Each day this week, we’ll post a link to her stories, beginning today with Getting There, where she talks about how the plan for her trip came together with the help of some RSA friends.

The Magic Hat
The RSA’s RS sent us a favorite clip featuring Craig, his magic hat and the story behind a yard of ale.

Video courtesy: caseymnj

Tonight’s Guests
Monday on the Late Late Show, Craig interviews actress Poppy Montgomery and actor Steve Guttenberg.  Tuesday, Craig’s guests are musician Steven Tyler and the just-added actress Jaime King.

Guest Update

Anna Chlumsky

The Late Late Show guest listings have been updated to include details of the Scotland shows May 14-18, including the sights Craig will be seeing, plus his guests Mila Kunis, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rashida Jones, David Sedaris, Ariel Tweto, Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond and music from The Imagineers throughout the week.  Also added to the schedule are actress Jaime King on Tuesday of this week and actress Anna Chlumsky for this Friday’s show.  You can see the full listings on our Guests page.