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Tapings Wrap Up
Tapings of episodes of the Late Late Show wrapped up for the year this week.  There are six more fresh episodes “in the can” to be broadcast during the week of December 19th-23rd and on Monday, January 2nd, giving Craig and company a nice two-week break for the holidays and a little extra time to get back home after New Year’s Day.  The re-run fairy will visit December 26th-30th.  As Craig mentioned on the show, he’ll be spending at least part of his holiday break in Scotland, including a New Year’s hogmanay celebration.

Sean Digs Betty
Sean Hayes and Craig had fun talking about Betty White and Oprah on Thursday’s show, as reported in the Huffington Post.

Images of Glasgow’s Post-Punk Scene
If you happen to be in Glasgow in the next few months, you’ll have a chance to see a exhibition of photographs from the late 1970s and early 1980s, focusing on the wild music scene of Scotland.  An article on thequietus.com explains that pictures of one of Craig’s bands Dreamboys are among the collection.

The Next Companion

As Karen Gillan departs Doctor Who, fans including the folks at Yahoo UK are speculating about who the Doctor’s next companion might be.  Before you say, “Me!” (you too, ladies), check out their list of possible actresses to pair with Matt Smith.


Fun With Sound
Although it was a holdover from the days of previous Late Late Show host Craig Kilborn, Craig Ferguson found a way to make the sound machine his own:

Video courtesy: RoQu3tO

Tonight’s Guests
Friday on the Late Late Show, Craig welcomes back actress Mindy Kaling and comedian Nick Griffin.  A previously scheduled guest, professional basketball player Pau Gasol has other things on his mind after the NBA voided a deal that would have sent the LA Lakers star to play for the Houston Rockets.  He may be rescheduled at a later date.

Guest Update

Hugh Laurie

The future guest list has been updated to give us a look at some of the faces we’ll be seeing in January, including Carrie Fisher, Matthew Gray Gubler, RZA, Tom Selleck, Daniela Ruah, Laura Prepon, Howie Mandel, Larry the Cable Guy, Hugh Laurie, Kristen Bell and more. You can see the complete list on our Guests page.

Nashville On Sale
The Robot Skeleton Army was on the march in Nashville Thursday, as tickets went on sale for Craig Ferguson‘s January 23rd stand up comedy performance at the Polk Theater. So intense was the interest, we’re told by the RSA’s @GlitteryGirrll that within the first 30 minutes tickets were available, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center website was briefly overwhelmed with requests. Go skellies! Nashville likes Craig and Craig likes Nashville, so it should be another great show.

Backstage Tweet
A member of the audience tweeted before Wednesday’s taping and got a surprise reply from the man himself:

“@Brant_Gerald: At a taping of the @CraigyFerg show!!!”. Me too !!!

Craig also found the latest trailer for Ghost Rider 2:

Hecks yes-indeedy. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810186371/video/27601473

Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?
On Wednesday’s show, Craig and Kenneth Branagh got into a discussion of psychology, anatomy and architecture.  The part of the interview The Huffington Post enjoyed most was Craig calling out Kenneth for the whereabouts of his hand.  Meanwhile, Branagh picked up a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in My Week With Marilyn, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

Doctor Who Trailer
What’s that you say? You want to see a trailer for the Doctor Who Christmas special? We thought you’d never ask:

Video courtesy: BBC

Tonight’s Guests
Thursday on the Late Late Show, watch for actor Sean Hayes and author John Hodgman.  Friday, Craig welcomes actress Mindy Kaling and comedian Nick Griffin.  Griffin tweeted on Thursday:

I’ll be on the late late show w/ craig ferguson tomorrow [Friday] night. let me know what you think. unless its bad and then keep your piehole shut.

Professional basketball player Pau Gasol, who was to appear on Friday but has been rumored to be part of a pending trade between Los Angeles and Houston, may be rescheduled at another date.

Guest Update

Betty White

Along with the change from Gasol to Griffin on Friday, the guest list has been updated through December 28th. We’ll be seeing encore visits from Seth Rogen, Judy Greer, Carey Mulligan, Paula Poundstone, Claire Danes and Betty White. You can see the latest listings on our Guests page.

Biloxi and Des Moines On Sale Now
Tickets for Craig Ferguson‘s upcoming stand up comedy show in Biloxi, MS went on sale Wednesday morning, and pre-sale tickets for Des Moines, IA are now on sale, using the promo code: SCOTLAND.  Thanks to the RSA’s ever-resourceful @bgrhubarb for tracking down the code.   Tickets for Nashville go on sale Thursday morning with no code needed.   The most up-to-date information is always on our Live Comedy Tour page.

Sir Ben Gets Yawned

Sir Ben Kingsley looked into the audience Tuesday night and caught an audience member yawning.  As the Huffington Post showed in a clip, the ever-deferential Craig assured his guest that it happens to him all the time.


Bookstore Owner Dies
The owner of the Shakespeare & Co. bookstore in Paris where Craig taped several segments of the Late Late Show this summer has died.  George Whitman was 98 years old.  His daughter Sylvia, who gave Craig a tour of the store and read emails with Craig and Geoff on the sidewalk in front of the building, will continue to run the landmark business.  The Associated Press has more details of the American man who became a pillar of Paris literary society.

Ewan McGregor in Perfect Sense
Ewan McGregor mentioned his new film Perfect Sense when he appeared on the Late Late Show back in November.  The film, which was shot in and around Glasgow, comes to a theater near you on February 10th, 2012.  Here is a look:

Video courtesy: lastmintrailers

Tonight’s Guests
Wednesday on the Late Late Show, actor Kenneth Branagh and actor Patton Oswalt converse with Craig.  Patton tweeted on Wednesday evening:

Man, @CraigyFerg has a fun show. We talked about vaginas & God. I’m not kidding. Watch tonight.

On Thursday Craig chats with actor Sean Hayes and author John Hodgman.

Biloxi Update
The Ticketmaster page for Craig Ferguson’s live stand up comedy performance at the Imperial Palace Casino in Biloxi, MS on January 21st is now online.   Here are the sale dates and times for the three shows not already on sale:

   â€¢  Biloxi – On sale Wednesday, December 14th at 10am CT (no pre-sale)
   â€¢  Nashville – On sale Thursday, December 15th at 10am CT (no pre-sale)
   â€¢  Des Moines – On sale Friday, December 16th at 10am CT
                                                (pre-sale December 14th at 10am – December 15 at 10pm CT)
UPDATED:  Pre-sale code for Des Moines is SCOTLAND (in all caps).  As always, you can see the full list of Craig’s live appearances with links to tickets on our Live Comedy Tour page.

New Avatar
Is Craig celebrating his one millionth Twitter follower?  He changed his avatar on Tuesday to a picture of him wearing a snazzy tux and looking ready to have a party.

Christmas Card Commentary
Hart Hanson, Executive Producer of Bones and the new series The Finder tweeted on Tuesday morning:

I’m slightly depressed by @craigyferg and @rebtuck ‘s Christmas card. I think it’s the festive sweaters combined with crushing ennui.

We’d like to see that card, if only for the sweaters.

Canada Covers Qualls
DJ Qualls‘ Vancouver Police incident is back in the news, especially in Canada. Canadian media picked up on the actor’s conversation with Craig Monday night, where he gave an abbreviated version of events. The British Columbia outlets of Canadian TV networks Global (which airs the Late Late Show) and CTV ran stories, along with Vancouver news-talk radio station News 1130 and the Huffington Post.

Lost Doctor Who Episodes Found
As Wired.com and several other outlets have reported, two vintage episodes of Doctor Who have been found in a private collection in the UK and will soon be shown on the BBC. It was common practice in the 1960’s for television networks to reuse videotape (which was expensive at the time), erasing many hours of classic programs. There are still 106 episodes of Doctor Who from 1964-1969 still missing but perhaps copies may still be hiding in basements or attics. Here is a clip of a 1965 episode. It is from the third part of a four-part series called “Galaxy 4”:

Video courtesy: BBC

Tonight’s Guests
Tuesday on the Late Late Show, watch for actor Sir Ben Kingsley and actress Morena Baccarin.  Wednesday, Craig’s guests are actor Kenneth Branagh and actor Patton Oswalt.

UPDATED:   The Biloxi Ticketmaster page is now online. Tickets go on sale Wednesday at 10am CT.

Nashville Update
A ticket page has now been posted for Craig Ferguson’s January 23rd appearance on the Polk Theater stage at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville, TN.  Tickets for the Nashville show go on sale Thursday, December 15th at 10am CT.  Tickets for Craig’s show at The Imperial Palace Casino in Biloxi on January 21st will go on sale Wednesday, December 14th at 10am ET. As always, you can see the latest information about Craig’s upcoming tour including locations, dates, times and ticket links on our Live Comedy Tour page.

Craig, Patton, Neil and Kat
Craig got involved in a four-way Twitter conversation with Patton Oswalt, Neil Gaiman and Kat Dennings on Sunday night.  It started when Craig complimented Patton’s performance in the new Jason Reitman film Young Adult and went from there.  Our thanks to the RSA’s @KyleWMichaud who compiled the whole conversation on his tumblr page.

New York Times Mention
New York Times advertising columnist Stuart Elliot responded to a reader question on Monday, asking about whether LLS regular Bradley Laise appears in the current holiday-themed T-Mobile television commercial.  In his response, Elliot linked to our post of November 10th from the Times website.  We should be quick to remind our readers that our website is fan-operated and not official but we’re pretty pleased to get a mention in the Times!

Hobos Voting
Remember, Craig is in the running in two different categories of the tv.com contest, Best Variety Show and Funniest Late Night Host.  Be sure to cast your vote early and often!  He’s up against, Conan, The Daily Show, The Soup, Tosh.0 and Saturday Night Live in the show category and competing with Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Jon Stewart, Conan O’Brien and Chelsea Handler in the host category.  You can vote as many times as you like until January 2nd. The results will be announced on January 3rd.

Craig Pictures
Thanks to the many people who reminded us that there are three pre-1980s pictures of Craig in his book American On Purpose. If any others exist, we’d be happy to see them.  In the meantime, Craig himself tried to give us some insight on his youth, with a pilot idea for a CBS show called Craig Ferguson: The Scottish Years:

Tonight’s Guests

Monday on the Late Late Show, Craig chats with actor DJ Qualls and chef Cat Cora.  Tuesday, Craig welcomes actor Sir Ben Kingsley and actress Morena Baccarin.




Guest Update

The guest list has been updated with details of all-new episodes through December 23rd, including confirmation of appearances by the Goo Goo Dolls and Regis Philbin plus a special show called the Christmas Email Spectacular.   The rerun fairy will visit December 26th-30th and new episodes will return on January 2nd.  To see the most complete and up-to-date listings, please see our Guests page.

Des Moines Update
A ticket page for Craig Ferguson‘s appearance in Des Moines, IA on January 26th has now appeared on the Hoyt Sherman Theater website.  Tickets will go on sale through the Hoyt Sherman box office online and by phone beginning Friday, December 16th at 10am Central Time.  Note that the show’s starting time has been change to 8:00pm.   We still haven’t seen any updates on Biloxi or Nashville but we’ll post the information as soon as we get it.  As always, you can see the latest information about Craig’s live shows on our Live Comedy Tour page.

Patton Power
Craig tweeted about upcoming guest Patton Oswalt on Sunday evening:

I think @pattonoswalt is going to get an Oscar nom for Young Adult. He’s great in it. He’s a chubby American Cate Blanchet. #impressed

The film Young Adult, directed by Jason Reitman, opened in selected cities this weekend and goes into wide release on December 16th.

How They Looked

The website Snakkle.com has a fun slideshow, showing “then and now” pictures of late night television hosts from their school days.  Craig wasn’t one of the hosts included.  We’ve seen lots of pictures of Craig from the 1980s and afterwards because he was performing publicly on stage and on television on a regular basis.  But does anyone have a picture of Craig from  the 1960s or 1970s?  We’d enjoy sharing it with other roboskellies.

Smothers Brothers Film
Longtime television critic David Bianculli‘s 2009 book about the Smothers Brothers has been optioned by George Clooney‘s production company for a future film, with Brian Hecker and Craig Sherman attached as screenwriters.  LLS Producer Michael Naidus retweeted Bianculli’s announcement on Saturday.  Anyone who is interested in what can happen when subversive comedy meets network television will enjoy the book, and we’re betting on the big screen version to be successful as well.

Craig and Dave
Craig has fun with Dave Foley, whoopie cushions and the sound machine:

Video courtesy: RoQu3tO

This Week’s Guests

John Hodgman

It’s another week of all new episodes of the Late Late Show, beginning Monday with chef Cat Cora and actor DJ Qualls.  Tuesday, actor Ben Kingsley will be on the show.  Wednesday, actor Patton Oswalt is Craig’s guest.  Actor Sean Hayes and author John Hodgman are in the studio on Thursday.  And on Friday, Craig welcomes actress Mindy Kaling.  Watch for a few more guests to be added soon.

Craig Tours The Heartland
Craig Ferguson is spending more than a week in January to tour the middle of the country.  Tickets are selling briskly in several cities on the calendar.  If you’re thinking about going to Birmingham, AL, be sure to get your tickets soon.  With only 400 seats, they’ll go quickly.  Meanwhile, we have been checking and still have no official show times or ticket sale dates for Biloxi or Nashville but we’ll be sure to post them as soon as we hear the specifics.  As we reported in our last post, Craig will be at the Hoyt Sherman Theater in Des Moines on January 26th… the Ticketmaster listing still shows the Civic Center but that should be taken down soon.

Unused Tickets
We have seen a few tweets here and there from people who have bought tickets to shows but can’t use them.  As fans, we recommend that you only buy tickets for yourself and your immediate group of family or friends that can attend.   If your plans change and you have unused tickets, we can’t get into the ticket-trading business here on the website but we can offer these suggestions:  Twitter is often a good place to find fans looking for tickets… just let people know and you may get some takers.  Another idea is to use ticket brokering services like StubHub.com, offering them at face value.  People almost never pay extra for tickets unless it’s the front row at a Lakers Game and in some states, it’s not legal to sell tickets for higher than face value.  In any case, we hope you get to use them for yourself and enjoy the show!

The Million Moment?

Did any robot skeleton capture the moment when Craig reached one million followers on Twitter?  The RSA’s @MissGraoully caught the count at 999,999 and again at 1,000,001.  Since things happen so quickly on Twitter, two people may have followed at exactly the same moment.

UPDATE: The RSA’s @ThatOneRoadie caught the moment when Craig reached a million. Great job!

December Holidays
Saturday, December 10th is Nobel Peace Prize Day and the National Day of the Horse, as well as the birthday of educator Thomas Gallaudet and poet Emily Dickinson.  Sunday, December 11th is UN International Mountain Day, the anniversary of UNICEF.  It is also the birthday of singer Brenda Lee and one of the few people to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award, Rita Moreno. Here she is, having a little fun with Animal on The Muppet Show:

Video courtesy: dooliloo