Close to a Deal?
More media outlets are reporting that CBS is on the verge of announcing a pair of new contracts that would keep David Letterman and Craig Ferguson as its late night hosts through the summer of 2014.  The Hollywood Reporter‘s story parallels Thursday night’s account in Variety, saying an agreement is near.  The website uproxx.com speculates about possible future scenarios for CBS, and Newsday reminds us that the network had at one time hoped to move its lead-off late night show to the west coast for better access to Hollywood star interviews but kept in in New York because of Letterman.  We’ll continue to monitor the story and post updates as needed.

Craig and Al
One could only expect that a meeting between Craig and “Weird Al” Yankovic would be epic, and by all accounts, Thursday’s Late Late Show did not disappoint.  Tireless fans of both Craig and Al, @tardishobo and @SariesWick were at the show.  Note:  Mild spoilers ahead:  They wrote about their experience on their Al fan blog and Sara wrote another story about the day.  And one of the best parts?  Craig was overheard asking Al if he’s like to come back to be on the show again soon and Al agreed.

We’d Walk a Mile
How far would you travel to see Craig Ferguson? Yeah, but how far would you walk to see Craig Ferguson? The RSA’s Terry Wood blogs for outdoor retailer REI and recently posted an entry detailing his urban hike to see Craig at CBS Television City. Thanks for the link and a great story, Terry!

Papal Who Need Papal
In the early days of the Late Late Show, they would occasionally do a sketch about how different magazines see the news of the day differently.  This time, Craig takes a look at how your favorite magazines might cover the selection of a new Pope:

Video courtesy: RoQu3tO

Tonight’s Guests


Friday on the Late Late Show, Craig welcomes comedian Chelsea Handler and biologist Dan Riskin.





Guest Update

Added to the future guest list are Jean Michel Cousteau and Eloise Mumford. For the most up-to-date listings, see our Guests page.

Update: The Hollywood trade newspaper Variety is reporting that Craig could be moving into a bigger studio at CBS Television City. There’s no word on a completed deal but it might be nice to move out of the “basement” as Craig calls it:

[stextbox id=”custom”]Craig Ferguson nears new CBS pact

‘Late Late Show’ poised to move to large stage at TV City
By Cynthia Littleton

Craig Ferguson is close to finalizing a deal to stay put at CBS’ “The Late Late Show” through 2014. But he’ll be on the move at CBS Television City.

Ferguson’s “The Late Late Show” is poised to move to a larger stage at CBS’ Beverly Boulevard lot as part of the new pact that is being hammered out with CBS and David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants, which owns the show. Ferguson is also set to get a hefty raise over his previous deals, after putting in seven years of yeoman’s service as the 12:35 a.m. companion to Letterman’s “Late Show.”

Reps for CBS and Ferguson declined comment.

CBS has been eager to lock up the combo of Letterman and Ferguson to ensure stability at a time when the Eye’s latenight shows are increasingly competitive with their NBC counterparts.

Ferguson’s Green Mountain West production banner also is in business on the development side with CBS TV Studios.
-Variety[/stextbox]

West Coast Tour
It’s been a couple of years since Craig Ferguson took his live stand up comedy performances to the west coast and now, fans along the Pacific will get their wish.  As we first reported on Wednesday evening, Craig will be performing at venues in Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington April 19th through the 28th.  We’ve updated our Live Comedy Tour page with all of the information that is available so far.  For most locations, Craig’s show has not yet been added to their websites but we’ve included links to their schedules, so you can learn basic information about the theaters.  We will be adding show times and links to ticket pages as soon as they become available.  We’ll also keep our eyes open for any ticket pre-sale information and pass it along.

Rowdy Fan
The Huffington Post reports on the Christina Applegate fan who got a bit too excited during Wednesday’s show. Lesson: Go to the show and enjoy yourself but don’t go into Assmöde.

Get Ready For Weirdness

“Weird Al” Yankovic takes to the LLS stage Thursday night. The appearance continues to draw media attention from sites like dalje.com and UPI.com. The RSA’s @tardishobo and @sarieswick, who encouraged bringing Al to the show, were in the audience for the taping on Thursday afternoon. Sara will be sending us a story about their experience soon.  Before the show, Al tweeted:

Tonight I’ll be on @CraigyFerg. Yes, LITERALLY ON HIM. Also, his show. #TLLS

And after Thursday’s taping, Craig tweeted:

I am very happy to announce that American treasure @alyankovic is on the show tonight and his mighty entertainment powers are intact.

House, M.D. to End
Hugh Laurie fans are sighing deep sighs today, with word that this will be the final season of House, M.D. on Fox. A date for the final episode has not been set but it is expected to be in April. Us Magazine, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and Entertainment Weekly are among the outlets reporting the news. Does this mean Hugh will have time to be in a movie? That would be a very nice thing.

Prince Charles Wedding
Craig shows us some exclusive footage from Prince Charles’ wedding:

Video courtesy: RoQu3tO

Tonight’s Guests

Thursday on the Late Late Show, Craig chats with actress Lisa Kudrow and Weird Al Yankovic performs in the studio.  On Friday, Craig chats with comedian Chelsea Handler and biologist Dan Riskin.



Coming Up
In our next post, you’ll meet a Craig fan who went the “extra mile” to see Craig on the Late Late Show.

Twitter Fun
After taking a few days away from tweeting (an excellent thing for anyone to try from time to time), Craig Ferguson jumped back on the Tweety in earnest, first with couple of Madonna jokes before and during Sunday’s Super Bowl, and then on Monday morning:

My ultra nerdy friends don’t seem to be on the tweety so much anymore. Damn! There must be a new thing and I don’t know about it yet.#loser

He had fun with the RSA’s @squirrel_handed:

“@squirrel_handed: I pretend the baby I nanny is @CraigyFerg interviewing me. It’s good practice for when I’m famous.” …the hell?

Then he teased the RSA’s @VictoriaMIbanez who saw Craig perform live in January:

“@VictoriaMIbanez: @CraigyFerg I’m right here, Craig! You always ignore me. :(” Quiet please.

Soon, domestic responsibilities called him away for a while:

Breakfast > tweetiness. I am summoned to toasty duty. Thanks for the nerd love. Later taters. #latertaters

And later, as many Twitter users do, Craig noticed that he had reached a tweeting milestone and dedicated his next tweet.  He gave a belated “801” shout out to a pair of 70’s glam rock musicians from the band Roxy Music and even threw in a hashtag reference to the movie This is Spinal Tap:

I meant to dedicate my 801st tweet to Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera but I forgot. So here is 901. That’s 100 better. #thesegouptoeleven

He also had fun with a member of the studio audience on Monday:

“@DanSpiegel: At #CBS Studios for the @CraigyFerg taping. Should be fun.” Not necessarily.

Sharing is Good
The RSA’s @cozyhobo spotted a post where two friends have decided to share Craig.

Some Eddie
If you’re going to be in the greater Los Angeles area on Wednesday or Thursday this week, you might want to check out Eddie Izzard, live and in person:

Eddie Izzard will be performing at LARGO in LA this Weds, and Thurs. TIX here http://bit.ly/zs7FRS – The Beekeepers

Please, Sir I Want Some More
Tuesday marks the 200th birthday of author Charles Dickens.  Celebrations are planned in literary circles throughout the year.  National Public Radio is among the media outlets taking note.

British Contender
Craig introduces us to a British would-be boxer, competing on a reality show:

Video courtesy: RoQu3tO

Tonight’s Guests

Monday on the Late Late Show, Craig’s guests are actor Mark Harmon and actress Martha Plimpton. Martha tweeted:

So excited to be meeting my future lifelong friend @CraigyFerg tonight! Gonna be on his sheaux. Stay up late late!

Tuesday, Craig spends some time with actor Kenneth Branagh.

Back to Work
After a nice weekend at home, Craig Ferguson is gearing up for another week of all-new episodes of the Late Late Show this week including the hunky Mark Harmon, the also hunky Kenneth Branagh and one of the true kings of geeky hunkiness, “Weird Al” Yankovic.  And speaking of hunkiness, we’re told that there was some sort of sporting event going on over the weekend.  Judging by the Twitter traffic, it must have somehow involved David Beckham and underwear.  We hope everyone had a chance to enjoy that.  You too, ladies.

Craig was watching the big game, or at least the halftime show:

I have to admit the halftime show was pretty good. That cheeky cockney has still got all the moves. #butslower

Earlier in the day, upcoming guest Thomas Lennon tweeted:

Can we all agree on ONE snarky comment that we’re going to make when we see Madonna’s arms today? #armsuggestions

And Craig responded:

@thomaslennon How about “wow, that English dude has sick pythons” #armsuggestions

Research
Craig’s sister Lynn Ferguson tweeted Sunday about a friend’s book:

My pal has written a sexy book http://www.amazon.com/Tennis-Dates-Colette-Freedman/dp/1432726706 . Am gonna read it – for research 🙂

Mark Harmon and NCIS

The Toronto Star interviews Mark Harmon on the eve of the 200th episode of NCIS.



Halftime With Al
The New York Daily News says it’s about time that “Weird Al” Yankovic gets the chance to be the halftime act at the Super Bowl.  We agree.

Branagh on the Carpet

The New York Times interviewed Kenneth Branagh at last week’s Screen Actors Guild Awards.



Ad Bowl
There are silly ads, sappy ads and downright bizarre ads during the big game each year but we tend to be partial to the classy ads. Runners up for best ad included the Best Buy ad with the inventors of various smartphone technologies and a very sexy teleflora ad with Adriana Lima. But these are our favorite three: The classic Budweiser ad with cinematic pictures, great music and of course, the horses:

Video courtesy: Anheuser–Busch InBev

Next, Toyota’s reminder that they’ve been around for a while:

Video courtesy: Toyota USA

And our favorite of the year, Budweiser’s great idea to give the guys who just play for a fun a chance to feel like they’re in the big time:

Video courtesy: BudweiserCanada

This Week’s Guests
It’s another week of all-new episodes of the Late Late Show, starting on Monday with actor Mark Harmon and actress Martha Plimpton.  Tuesday, Craig chats with actor Kenneth Branagh.  Wednesday, actress Christina Applegate and stylist Brad Goreski.  Actress Lisa Kudrow and “Weird Al” Yankovic are in the studio on Thursday.  And on Friday, Craig welcomes comedian Chelsea Handler and biologist Dan Riskin.

 

Quiet Day
It’s been a quiet day in the Hollowed-Out Volcano.  Craig Ferguson is enjoying a weekend at home after being on the road, Twitter traffic has been slow and most robot skeletons seem to be settled in, awaiting orders from our fearless leader.  We’ve been keeping an eye out for future Live Comedy Tour appearances, future Guests on the Late Late Show and any news on contract talks between CBS and David Letterman as well as Craig.  We’ll keep you posted if we hear anything new.

Memories of Craig’s Visit to Paris
After getting to enjoy a second look at Craig’s week of shows in Paris, we were reminded that some of our Euroskelly faithful captured some great pictures while Craig was taping on location. Thanks to the work of the RSA’s @003lili, @MissGraoully, @SpongyPotato, @Spongybob2, @simonhuet, @ericphilippona, @RudyHellio and more, we had a chance to see what it was like to be around Craig & Company while they put together the week’s shows. Here is a look back and some of the best pictures from the Late Late Show’s time in the City of Lights:

[ssg-superb-slideshow=3=600=480=7000=500=0=NO]

Questions for Josh
The voice of Geoff Peterson, Josh Robert Thompson periodically answers viewer questions on Twitter. On Friday, he was asked if any upgrades were in the works for Geoff. He responded:

Stay tuned… 😉 RT @stephbg Are there any upgrades for Geoff in the works?

I Can Haz Doctor Who?

There are a surprising number of pictures on the always funny lolcats website involving cats and Doctor Who.  These are some of our favorites:

Early February Holidays and Birthdays
Saturday, February 4 is the birthday of actress Ida Lupino, flyer Charles Lindbergh and civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks.  It is also the anniversary of the founding of the USO, one of Craig’s favorite charities.  Sunday, February 5 is National Weatherpersons Day, as well as the birthday of slugger Hank Aaron, actor Tim Meadows and comedian Red Buttons.  Here’s a short clip of Red in action, appearing at a comedy hall of fame ceremony and doing a variation of one of his classic bits, the people who didn’t get inducted into the hall.

Video courtesy: MrJimmyfinlayson