As Craig would say, leave it to the immigrant has to work on the holiday. The Late Late Show will be taping on Monday as usual and looking for great tweets and emails. LLS assistant producer Andrea Wayland tweeted Thursday: No long weekend. We’ll be here on Monday to tape another fresh and awesome show. Besides, we just had a looooong vacation. Andrea also tweeted this message: Anyone out there from South Dakota? If so, happy Friday to you and a general “thank you”. You don’t need to know why. Not bad, South Dakota roboskellies. Are you among them? Say hello in the comments below.

Craig’s assistant Rebecca Tucker tweeted about an odd gift sent to the show:  Strangest fan gift to date: giant “scottish” squash http://twitpic.com/2kmw6i We’d have to agree, Rebecca.  That is definitely strange.

The Huffington Post featured Craig’s monologue from Thursday night, including the video clip of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s awkward pause during a candidate debate.

Friday night on the Late Late Show, Craig welcomes actress Brooke Shields and actor DJ Qualls, who tweeted:  On with @CraigyFerg (Craig Ferguson) tonight if you care to watch. Should be some funny stuff. Proud of the tie I wore. Spread the word.

Beginning today, we are publishing the RSA News at our new time 3am GMT/11pm ET/8pm PT.  The new time is intended to provide the most complete coverage of robot skeleton army-related news from the day and preview the next show about 90 minutes before it first airs on the east coast.  Let us know if you have comments, questions or contributions using the comment section below or the contact form on the right margin.

The RSA News will be posted daily at a new time beginning Friday:  We have noticed that tweets from Craig and the producers of the Late Late Show (as well as other news about the show) are popping up more frequently in the late afternoon and early evening… often after we have already posted our offering for the day. We want to ensure that as much of the day’s RSA-related news as possible is summarized in our daily posts and relevant information can be previewed in the hours leading up to the show each night. So as an experiment beginning on Friday, September 3rd, we will change the time we publish the RSA News each day. We will now post each day at 3am GMT/11pm ET/8pm PT, about 90 minutes before the show airs in the eastern half of the US.  We appreciate feedback not only the posting time change but about the entire site and the information we provide each day.   As always, thank you for being loyal readers and contributors. The RSA News is here because of you!

UPDATE:  LLS  assistant producer Anderea Wayland was home sick yesterday but returned to work today.  Her boss, producer Michael Naidus welcomed her back with a tweet:  Andrea is back and we are warming up the doorbell in her honor. Make those tweets good today. Warming up the doorbell?  Oh yes.  Craig tweeted this evening:  My buddy @nerdist on the show tonight to help with emails. Send your geeky queeries. Btw Geeky Queeries etc etc Craig then added:  That whippersnapper @nerdist fab on the show tonight. @sarawatkins brilliant. If only @dontrythis had been there it would have been nerdvana

TVSquad.com enjoy Rachel Ray‘s exchange with Craig last night.

An Iowa newspaper profile of comedian Steve Hofstetter includes his story of waiting backstage before appearing on the Late Late Show and how Craig helped him feel relaxed with a single sentence.

We’re hoping the listed guests on the show are actually the ones who appear *shakes fist at CBS for not telling us about last-minute changes yesterday* Tonight on the Late Late Show, Craig welcomes actress Anne Heche and comedian Billy Gardell.

On Friday,watch for actress Brooke Shields and actor DJ Qualls.

Craig‘s vacation clearly did some good… he’s been in top form the last couple of nights, having fun with guests and regaling us with great monologues.  The folks at TV squad enjoyed Craig and Don Johnson flirting last night and thought that Craig cracking himself up was great television.  We agree!  #MML

Craig’s assistant Rebecca Tucker sent a tweet that we all can agree with:   Hoping our friends at Discovery are all ok! It was a tense afternoon in Silver Spring, Maryland today at Discovery Channel headquarters, where a protester with a gun and perhaps bombs took three hostages in the early afternoon.  The building is home to Discovery’s corporate offices, rather than the personalities that we see on TV.  Thankfully the hostages were freed and there were no reports of injuries.  The Associated Press reports that the suspect was shot and killed by police.

On a lighter note, Rebecca also tweeted that it is a fun holiday:  Its National Bacon Day! http://twitpic.com/2kapdk LLS assistant producer Andrea Wayland tweeted that she’s not feeling well.  We hope she feels better soon.  She also said more about how when Craig sees the tweets and emails on the air, it’s for the first time… so he can improvise responses:  To clarify, Q’s picked for shows are a surprise every day.

Voice actor Josh Robert Thompson tweeted the secret behind Geoff Petersen‘s voice:  Recipe for Geoff Petersen voice: 1 part Snagglepuss. 1 part Vincent Price. 2 parts George Takei. #RSA

Tonight’s guest on the Late Late Show was originally scheduled to be talk show host Jerry Springer but has been updated to include daytime talk show host Rachel Ray and author William Knoedelseder.

DVR Alert: The Late Late Show will air approximately 15 minutes later tonight, due to the President’s address regarding the end of American combat operations in Iraq. Your DVR may automatically adjust for this change but you may want to double-check.

In typical Craig fashion, he tweeted before last night’s taping, warning us not to expect too much:  Not long til show time. No material, no rehearsal and the guest hasn’t arrived. Yeah! It’s like we never even went on vacation. #craptvftw. But as usual, he delivered far more, with a great first show back from vacation.  The volcano was rocking with excitement to see Craig back with new episodes.

Perhaps Craig spotted all of the RSA members with mustaches on their avatars, because as fans pointed out… not only did last night’s band, The Chiefs all have mustaches, even the cat at the end of the show had one.  Craig’s former experimental mustache “Rudy” had his revenge for a night.  And LLS producer Michael Naidus had the last word:  Contrary to rumors, first show back didn’t suck at all. Enjoy

Thank you to all of the RSA members who popped into the RSA News chat room last night.  We had dozens of people spend some time and chat about Craig and the show.  We learned a few things:

1. Many roboskellies aren’t used to chat rooms. The technology predates Twitter and there aren’t as many chat rooms around the interwebs as there used to be.  The advantage is that you can have many people in the room talking in real time.  The disadvantage is that is can be a little confusing.  After a little practice, it makes more sense.
2. People were most enthusiastic about talking before the show.  Once the show started, many disappeared… saying it was difficult to watch the chat room, Twitter, Facebook and Craig at the same time.  So going  forward, we may just try having the room open before a show but not during.
3. There seemed to be plenty of enthusiasm the Eastern, Central and Mountain time zones before the show aired in the east.  It was pretty quiet when the show was on in the west.  Let’s go west coast skellies!
4. Finally, we learned that it is great fun to have so many skellies together, talking and meeting new people.  We’ll definitely do it again sometime soon.  Thanks for helping the RSA have a fun night!

We heard some good advice from Craig’s assistant Rebecca Tucker last night:  Ghost stories before bed are not a good idea. This morning, General @malinky2stoatir was pleased as she posted the new show:  Having my tea & giggling…thinking about the collective Fergasmic sigh of pleasurable joy that must have gone on for 3+hrs last night. #RSA And today, voice actor Josh Robert Thompson gave us something to look forward to:  I have ways of making Geoff Petersen talk.Recording ALL-NEW robot sidekick dialogue at “The Late Late Show” this morning!

Tonight on another all-new Late Late Show, Craig talks with former Miami Vice actor Don Johnson and detective novel author Laura Lippman.

Tonight is the night!  After a two week break that gave the Late Late Show crew some much-deserved vacation time but gave LLS fans a steady diet of reruns, it’s time for fresh, new episodes to return to CBS!  Craig‘s first show back is bound to be a big one, so we hope you’ll join us to talk about it.  Tonight at 11pm Eastern Time (8pm Pacific) we’re opening the RSA News special event LIVE chat room, where RSA members can talk about Craig, the show and all things robot-y and skeleton-y.  Look for the chat room button under the title bar near the top left corner of this page after 11pm ET and click on it to sign in.  We’ll stay open for about six hours… from 11pm Eastern (95 minutes before the show starts in the East) until 1:45am Pacific (shortly after the show ends in the West).  We hope you’ll join us for some fun!

If you are a fan of the CBS show The Big Bang Theory and you can get to the CBS Television City studios in Los Angeles, you might want to block off the afternoon of Wednesday, September 22nd on your calendar.  It appears Craig will be interviewing the entire cast that day.  We’re not sure if they’ll all be appearing together on the same day, doing a sketch or if the interviews will be spread out for different broadcasts… but all five will be in the studio that day:  Kaley Cuoco, Jim Parsons, Simon Helberg, Johnny Galecki and Kunal Nuyyar.

LLS assistant producer Andrea Wayland responded to a question from RSA member @HMSFox with an interesting answer today:  The tweets/emails used on the show are NEVER seen by Craig until he says the words out live on air!! Awesome, right!? 🙂 It is… which is why it’s important to remember one of Andrea’s big tips about sending tweets to Craig… you don’t need to try to be funny.  He’ll take care of that when he reads it!  And Andrea also agreed with the RSA’s @michpamoran who made a good point to save space:   if we have the tweet locator on, we don’t have2 use a spce to put our town in tweets. And LLS producer Michael Naidus is back in the swing of things:  Pretty sure I’m home. Looks like home, so it’s either that or a very complicated ruse.

The RSA’s @Colleen_Byrne has assembled a collection of screen captures from Craig’s Shark Week special on the Discovery Channel.

Tonight on the Late Late Show, welcome back Craig!  He’ll be chatting with actor Adam Goldberg and hear music by Chief.

Our friend and RSA member extraordinaire @bgrhubarb has compiled a great new list of Craig Ferguson, Late Late Show and Robot Skeleton Army related links.  Check it out!

Don’t forget: All new episodes of the Late Late Show are back tomorrow night!  To celebrate, we’ll be opening the RSA News special event live chat room from 11pm-4:45am Eastern Time ( 8pm-1:45am Pacific) Monday for RSA members to talk about the Craig and the show.  Just look for the chat room button under the title bar here on the website Monday evening… sign in and join us!

A few days ago, we put out the call, wondering if anyone had posted the episode of Million Dollar Password where Craig was a guest.  The RSA’s own @Colleen_Byrne tracked it down and sent us the link.  We’ve included all four parts for your enjoyment.

Video courtesy: chadmosher1

As of tonight, a complete guest list for the week has not been published by CBS or our other usual sources. We have seen the tentative lineup for Monday through Wednesday: On Monday Craig returns with all-new episodes and we’re sure plenty of vacation anecdotes, plus actor Adam Goldberg and music by Chief. On Tuesday, Craig welcomes 80’s heartthrob, actor Don Johnson and author Laura Lippman. Then on Wednesday, talk show host Jerry Springer will be on the show.

On Thursday, a taping is scheduled with actor Billy Gardell and actress Anne Heche and on Friday, the crew is scheduled to tape appearances by Brooke Shields and Dj Qualls. Host of Inside the Actor’s Studio James Lipton is also being taped this week for a future broadcast. We’ll let you know the updated guest lineups when they are finalized.

Craig started a bit of a mustache revolution in the past 24 hours, starting with his tweet yesterday:  I’ve learned when your wife & child are giggling hysterically it’s time to shave off your sad mustache. Sorry no pictures. #nothinglikezorro Within moments, RSA members were tweeting back to Craig, asking him not to shave.  Several even put fake mustaches on their avatar pictures to encourage him to give the mustache another try.  Craig’s fans may remember his last ill-fated attempt at facial hair… a mustache he named “Rudy“.  He shaved it off shortly afterward, citing viewer backlash.  Today, clearly amused by all the chatter, Craig tweeted a picture: http://yfrog.com/j2ijibj ok needy tweeters. Here’s me with moustache And although it was clear that Craig’s real mustache didn’t last, he added a final tweet with a definitive answer:  http://yfrog.com/migj0uj my moustache & I broke up. Creative differences. He’s going solo.

Craig’s assistant Rebecca Tucker tweeted her apprehension: @CraigyFerg i fear the mustache. But she also added that she and her friends did well in the Santa Barbara triathlon:  Team late late show rocked the SB tri! I’m pooped. Thanks chris, mark and andrea!

RSA General @Malinky2Stoatir put it best after Friday night’s show:  The rerun fairy has left the building… #PeaceOutBe-atch #RSA Since all new episodes of the Late Late Show are returning Monday night, we’ll be opening the RSA News special event live chat room from 11pm-4:45am Eastern Time ( 8pm-1:45am Pacific) Monday for RSA members to talk about the Craig and the show.  Just look for the chat room button under the title bar on Monday… sign in and join us!

Thanks to the RSA’s @NadineWavy for sending us a clip of Craig performing his famous “Sheep Song” on a television special several years ago.

Video courtesy: karik00

Today is National Bow Tie Day, National Dream Day and National Neighborhood Day.  We’ll dream of wearing bow ties in your neighborhood and have them all covered.