Game Show Giggles
As we’ve seen through three seasons of Celebrity Name Game, there has been no shortage of funny moments that make it on television (not to mention funny moments that get edited out). The folks over at Entertainment Weekly put together their favorite bloopers from game shows in 2016, and Celebrity Name Game made the list more than once, thanks to Craig Ferguson‘s uninhibited style as host. Thanks to the ever-vigilant @bgrhubarb for spotting the article.

Carrie Carries On
TV personality Carrie Keagan has joined this season’s Celebrity Apprentice. The Hollywood Reporter talks about her background, including a few moments behind the desk at The Late Late Show, the night Craig announced his departure from the show.

Forward’s Favorables
Canadian comedian Mark Forward, who has opened frequently for Craig in the past few years, recently recorded his first comedy special and is appearing in a new sitcom. The Toronto Star newspaper dug into the details and had nice things to say about Mark.

Short Shorts
On Celebrity Name Game, a contestant found a creative way to explain the short pants worn by Daisy Duke in the Dukes of Hazzard. Being European, Craig appreciated the effort.

Video courtesy: YouTube

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Lip Sync Battle
As the new year gets under way, Craig Ferguson‘s attention is turning toward new projects, including an upcoming appearance on Spike TV’s Lip Sync Battle, where he’ll be taking on none other than Jay Leno. DVR Alert: The episode will air Thursday, January 19 at 10:00pm ET/PT. If we were the odds makers in Las Vegas, we’d have to give the edge to Craig, who has a long and distinguished history of lip syncing, as a recent post on Uproxx.com demonstrates.

Book Report
Laurence Block‘s collection of short stories, In Sunlight or in Shadow, based on the works of Edward Hopper, including one by Craig, is enjoying positive reviews from the critics. CrimeFictionLover.com‘s review contains minor spoilers but says nice things about Craig, USA Today‘s brief nod gives the book four stars.

Get Those Pigs
When it takes video game noises to describe a clue on Celebrity Name Game, who would be better than Craig to do it? Nobody:

Video courtesy: Celebrity Name Game

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Haggis Could Return
After being officially banned in the United States in 1971, the Scottish ceremonial dish of haggis could finally legally return to American shores. CNN Money reported recently that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering lifting its ban. The original prohibition states “livestock lungs shall not be saved for use as human food.” Lungs are included as part of traditional haggis. The issue became further complicated in 1997, when the U.S. banned British lamb over concerns surrounding Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and mad cow disease, which had surfaced in Europe at the time. Although the lung prohibition will likely remain in place, the ban on British lamb could be lifted as early as the middle part of next year, and Scottish haggis makers like MacSweens are planning lung-free versions for the U.S. market. Craig has mentioned MacSweens in the past, including their vegetarian haggis, and tweeted a photo of haggis last month on Saint Andrew’s Day. Haggis is traditionally eaten on ceremonial occasions, including Burns Night, January 25th, which marks the birthday of Scottish poet Robert Burns. There has been a brisk trade in smuggled Canadian haggis in the U.S. for decades, so Burns suppers could include the proper menu.

Late Night Bad Boy
With much of late night comedy dominated by guys named Jim, Minneapolis Star Tribune writer Neal Justin says Conan O’Brien is still the “bad boy” of late night, even though he’s the elder statesman among the current hosts.

Working With Wendy
About two years ago, Craig did a fun interview with Wendy Williams on her daytime talk show. If you missed it the first time, enjoy!

Video courtesy: Wendy Williams

Holiday Break

With the holidays upon us, we’ll be taking our usual break. We’ll return with our weekly posts on Wednesday, January 4th. Thanks as always to the entire robot skeleton army, and to our many contributors who make this site possible. We’ll see you in the new year!

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Puppet Pure Play
NBC will broadcast a new reality show special this summer called Top Puppet. It will be a competition-style show in the same vein as America’s Got Talent, but focus entirely on puppet acts. At this point, it is intended to be a one-time show, but if it does well in the ratings, future episodes may be ordered. As Deadline.com reports, the hollowed out volcano’s favorite puppet master Craig Ferguson is involved in the show. He won’t be on camera as a puppeteer or host, but will be working behind the scenes as an executive producer, along with the creators of The Voice and a team from the Muppets.

Competitors will span a wide range of puppeteering, and could include marionettes, costumed actors, ventriloquists, hand puppets and more. They’ll compete for three judges and a live studio audience. A date for the special has not been set, but we we get word, we’ll be sure to pass it along.

Late Night Conversation
A writer for the website Uproxx.com makes the case that late night television can succeed if it occasionally deviates from sketches and vacuous celebrity interviews. Citing Craig’s extended conversations with Stephen Fry and Archbishop Desmond Tutu as examples, Jason Tabrys argues the late night shows might do well to subscribe to the idea that “audiences sometimes crave more than a distraction.” Thanks to the RSA’s @Colleen_Byrne for spotting the article.

Late Night Conversation
Miss Join Or Die with Craig Ferguson? You can hear repeats on SiriusXM Insight, Channel 121 at 6pm ET every Friday or 5am ET every Monday.

Golden Globes
The nominees for the 2017 Golden Globe Awards have been announced, as detailed by The Hollywood Reporter and many other sources. The show will be on NBC January 8th, hosted by Jimmy Fallon. That’ll make it a clean sweep for late night hosts named some variation of Jim getting awards show hosting gigs, with recent Tony’s emcee James Corden tapped to host the Grammys on CBS February 12th and recent Emmys emcee Jimmy Kimmel hosting the Oscars on ABC February 26th.

Southern Cussing
Since Celebrity Name Game is on in the daytime, celebrity contestants need to use some creative language to express disappointment.

Video courtesy: Celebrity Name Game

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Hopper Book Hits Stores
Just in time for the holiday season, if you’re looking for a gift for the Craig Ferguson fan in your life (and by that, of course, we mean you), an anthology of short stories based on the paintings of Edward Hopper has reached your favorite bookstore. The collection, edited by Lawrence Block, includes a piece written by Craig, based on Hopper’s South Truro Church 1930. The book is being published by Pegasus Press. He tweeted about the advance copy he received earlier this year. If you don’t mind a tiny spoiler about the nature of the story Craig wrote, writer and mystery novelist Tom Straw (whose television credits including being a staff writer for The Late Late Show), interviewed Block about the book and several of the contributors.

‘Celebrity Name Game’ Ending in 2017
As we reported when the news broke last Friday, the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game, hosted by Craig Ferguson, will end after season three. Deadline.com and The Hollywood Reporter were among the first to report the show had not been renewed. While the show received critical acclaim, fan support and won two Emmy Awards with Craig as host, the shows ratings were not able to sustain a longer run, and the main station groups that carried the show decided to pursue other options. New episodes will continue in February and possibly in May with reruns running through the summer in some markets until new shows become available in the fall. Other stations may choose to run an extra episode of Family Feud or other shows in the time period. Consult your local listings.

Forward To Tape Special
Canadian comedian Mark Forward, who has opened for Craig many times in the past few years is recording a comedy special on stage at the Drake Underground in Toronto soon. The shows are at 8pm and 10pm on Tuesday, December 13.

What’s In A Name?
Craig had some fun with actress Minnie Driver on Celebrity Name Game, introducing her as “Mini Cooper.” He made her feel better by telling her that a contestant once forgot Craig’s name in a round on the show.

Video courtesy: YouTube

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‘Celebrity Name Game’ To End
The syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game, hosted by Craig Ferguson, will end after season three. Deadline.com and The Hollywood Reporter say the show has not been renewed. While the show received critical acclaim, fan support and won two Emmy Awards with Craig as host, the shows ratings were not able to sustain a longer run, and the main station groups that carried the show decided to pursue other options. New episodes will continue through May and reruns through the summer in most markets.

We’ll have more in our regular weekly update next week.

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Josh Inks Development Deal
Actor/Comedian Josh Robert Thompson had some big news in the past week, signing a development deal to try to secure distribution for his self-titled variety show. He wrote on his Facebook page:

Having the deal means Josh will now have more backing to shop his show around to television networks and other platforms and may have the opportunity to produce more episodes to follow the pilot. If you haven’t had a chance to see it, here’s a look at the trailer for the show:

We’ll keep you up to date as we hear more.

New Tour Date Added, Then Quickly Canceled
A new date was briefly added to Craig Ferguson‘s stand up comedy tour, at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey on February 24th. But after being online for a couple of days, the show is now listed as canceled. If you purchased tickets early, you can ask for a refund from Ticketmaster or the Harrah’s box office. More dates are expected to be announced soon, so follow us here on the website, on Facebook or on Twitter. You can find the details about dates, times, venues and tickets on our Live Comedy Tour page.

Corden To Host Grammy Awards
Current Late Late Show host James Corden has been chosen to host the Grammy Awards on CBS February 12, taking over for five-year host LL Cool J. The Tony Award winner also hosted the Tony Awards earlier this year, and has hosted the Brit Awards in the UK. Because of the Late Late Show‘s highly-viewed “Carpool Karaoke” segments, TV Guide says he’s a great choice.

A Superb Owl
One thing you can count on with Celebrity Name Game is Craig Ferguson‘s ability to go off on a tangent. This time, with the help of celebrity contestant Mark Duplass, he gets about as much comedy as he can from an owl:

Video courtesy: Celebrity Name Game

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