What a night on the LLS! Loyal RSA member Sara made it on the show wearing a Robot Skeleton Army shirt, available here thanks to RSA member Colleen_Byrne, who tells us that 15 more shirts have sold just since the show aired last night. Proceeds in the month of March benefit victims of the Haiti and Chile earthquakes. As she put it: Way to go, skeletons! 🙂

And as if that weren’t enough, Craig and Grant gave us an update on the construction of Geoff Petersen, the robot skeleton sidekick, complete with glowing blue eyes!

The always reliable Malinky2Stoatir captured the moment and posted it for your enjoyment:

Later in the show, when Craig brought on television veteran Regis Philbin, we were lucky enough to get a song from Regis and his wife Joy. Sara tweeted last night that the show was epic, and it certainly was.

In a new interview with smartplanet.com, Grant Imahara talks about how he got on the show Mythbusters and talks about his work building the sidekick: You’re working on a robot sidekick for Craig Ferguson. How did that come to be and how’s it going? Craig Ferguson is a huge fan of MythBusters. He enjoys our work, as we do his. He recently joined Twitter. He, as a joke, calls the people who follow him [on Twitter] his “robot skeleton army.” He had the idea, What if I had a real robot skeleton? I think he mentioned it on his show. I got a few tweets from people who are both fans of his show and our show who said, “You should build this robot skeleton for Craig.” I tweeted to Craig. I said, “If you get me to 100,000 [Twitter] followers, I will build you your very own robot skeleton sidekick.” Virtually overnight, I got up to 100,000 followers. We’ve been communicating back and forth about what this robot skeleton might be like. He’s so excited, as am I, to see this thing come to life. It’s going to be on [Ferguson’s] show April 5. Have you completed the robot? It’s not done. I’m basically building this sidekick for Craig in my spare time. Right now, we’re in the middle of production on MythBusters. We do all the planning and building for the experiments. It’s a full-time job. I stay late every night and I go in on the weekends to work on this robot. It’s taking quite awhile. He’s looking very, very good and I think he’s going to be a really fun addition to the show.

Craig tells the New York Post that he’s just happy to be hanging around CBS until he says something that will get him fired and he’ll worry about his future after that.

Tonight’s LLS will be the last for this week because the NCAA men’s basketball tournament “Sweet 16” round will pre-empt the show on Thursday and Friday night. Tonight, Craig has three guests on the schedule, including one last plug for How To Train Your Dragon from actor/writer Jonah Hill, along with actress Emily Procter and singer Mishka.

In a tweet made shortly after today’s taping of the Late Late Show (shh… knock it off!), our fearless leader told us about an update on Geoff Petersen, the robot skeleton sidekick: Skeletons Ho! ( also the name of a movie etc) Geoff Petersen update on the show tonight.

However, the tweet disappeared from his timeline shortly afterward. It was followed by a tweet that read: My tweets are dissappearing. Maybe it’s the steroids.

We’ll have to wait and see if the update appears tonight. In the meantime, the official debut of the sidekick is still a couple of weeks away on April 5th but excitement is already building inside the hollowed-out volcano.

There is still some uncertainty about the spelling of Geoff’s last name. Curiously, Geoff (not Jeff) has been clear from the start. But in Craig’s tweets, the last name has been spelled both Peterson with an “o” and Petersen with an “e”. We’ve opted for the “e” spelling here in the RSA News because the most recent tweets have used that spelling. Also, the “e” spelling is more Swedish and the “o” spelling is more Norwegian… not sure if that makes a difference but there you are. Some RSA members including @Fanny57 have tweeted Craig to ask for a ruling. We’ll keep you posted.

Craig spoke more in-depth in today’s Toronto Sun newspaper about his role in late night television, hinting about possible changes for the show and for himself. He echoed comments from earlier reports that he doesn’t want to be considered a late night talk show host. He also alluded that larger changes may be in store for the Late Late Show both cosmetically, such as his suits and the traditional talk show desk and in production, including further tinkering with the monologue/sketch/interview format. And after saying many times on the show that he no longer considered himself an actor now that he hosts a late night show, he reflected on his How To Train Your Dragon experience in the article and opened the door to more acting in the future.

Wolfgang Puck was replaced on last night’s LLS by Miami Medical actress Lana Parrilla. There’s no word on when Wolfgang will return but he has been a regular guest. Tonight, the How To Train Your Dragon buildup continues as Craig welcomes actor Jay Baruchel, along with legendary television personality Regis Philbin.

Spring is here and the blogs are blooming! In case you haven’t seen them, here are a couple of Craig Ferguson sites on the Internets you might enjoy. The first is the blog of the esteemed, high-ranking Robot Skeleton Army officer @Malinky2Stoatir. Malinky posts new episodes of the Late Late Show online each night and runs a blog with guest schedules, Craig news, details about puppets and more.

And thanks to RSA member @Lysemoi, there is a newly redesigned Craig fan website to enjoy. The site includes links to guest lineups, video of Late Late Show episodes, media articles, public appearances and more.

One story making the rounds today was posted by the news service Reuters, which interviewed Craig in Los Angeles about the recent “late night wars” and where he fits in. Craig distances himself from his competitors, saying that what he does is something different.

Fresh, new episodes of the Late Late Show return to CBS tonight… at least for a few days. Craig welcomes actor John Cusack and chef Wolfgang Puck for the first of three new shows this week. The LLS will be off Thursday and Friday due to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament’s “Sweet 16” round.

It’ll be Craig’s first day back since the How to Train Your Dragon movie premiere, the passage of the health care bill and the Saturday Night Live skit that poked fun at his show’s schedule. We’ll see if his chattiness has anything to say about those things tonight. And don’t forget… the debut of Geoff Petersen, robot skeleton sidekick, is just two weeks away!

The new Dreamworks animated feature How to Train Your Dragon had its Los Angeles premiere today. Pictures from the red carpet are below, thanks to the folks at Dreamworks. The film opens in 3-D and IMAX 3-D nationwide on Friday, March 26th.

Craig is the voice of Gobber the Belch, described as a grumpy, seasoned warrior who trains new recruits with bad advice and humor. His cast mate Jay Baruchel who plays Hiccup will be a guest on the LLS Tuesday.

Thanks to RSA member @colleen_byrne who found CMT’s interview with Craig about his character in HTTYD.

Craig has worked as a voice actor in television and film for more than ten years, with roles in American Dad, The Legend of Tarzan, The Angry Beavers, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, The Wild Thornberrys and Freakazoid. He is listed as a voice cast member of the upcoming feature The Hero of Color City and is slated to play the voice of Owl in Walt Disney Animation’s new Winnie the Pooh movie in 2011.

HTTYD Red Carpet Premiere

The red carpet awaits arrivals…

…as does the press.

Jay Baruchel arrives and hops on the dragon.

And Craig arrives!

What kind of day is it? It’s a great day for America!

Not a bad day for Scotland either, eh Gerry?

More Jay.

Craig tweeted from inside the theater: Sitting in theatre waiting for How To Train Your Dragon to start. V chuffed to be part of this movie For those wondering, “chuffed” is a British expression meaning “delighted” or “pleased as can be”… sometimes said “chuffed to bits”. We’re pretty sure the “V” was a typo (darn sausage fingers).

And a final picture from the folks at Dreamworks who tweeted/facebook-walled the red carpet. Thanks!

The film’s trailer:

Craig talks about his character:

_________________________________________________________

There will be fresh new episodes of the Late Late Show return for the next three days. On Monday, Craig welcomes actor John Cusack and chef Wolfgang Puck.

Grant Imahara is a robotics expert and build team member on the Discovery Channel series Mythbusters. But not just anybody can get a job that cool. He has a degree in electrical engineering, worked for nearly a decade for Industrial Light and Magic (the place that makes the technical parts of Star Wars and many other films come to life on screen) and literally wrote the book on “combat robots” like those he built for the BattleBots competitions.

The Robot Skeleton Army is keeping a close eye on Grant these days, as he works to build Geoff Petersen, the robot skeleton sidekick for Craig Ferguson’s Late Late Show. And this weekend, Grant remains hard at work on the project, even passing up robotics competition to keep at it: Was planning to go to FIRST competition today, but I’m in the shop working on the robot skeleton…

Geoff Petersen is expected to debut on Monday, April 5th… the same night as the NCAA men’s basketball championship and the same day as the Lollipop Theater tweet-a-thon. It’ll be a busy day for RSA fans.

From where did the inspiration come for Craig calling his followers his “robot skeleton army”? On the Late Late Show, Craig has said several times that one of his favorite recent movies is Ghost Rider, the 2007 thriller based on the Marvel comic character, Starring Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley, Brett Cullen and Peter Fonda. The film was panned by many critics but has earned more than 228 million dollars. Over time, Craig’s on-air comments about the film and skeletons in general evolved into a skull puppet, the awesomeness of robot skeletons and eventually a Bond villan-esque plan to have an army of robot skeletons based in a hollowed-out volcano awaiting orders to begin world domination. When Craig finally joined Twitter in February, he started calling his followers his Robot Skeleton Army and the name stuck.

Craig would appreciate this news, robo-skelly faithful: There is word that a sequel to Ghost Rider is in the works with members of the original cast including Nicolas Cage said to be attached to the project. David S. Goyer, DC Comics writer and co-creator of FlashForward told MTV that filming of the Ghost Rider sequel could begin sometime this year.

Note: There will be only three episodes of the Late Late Show this week, as the Thursday and Friday shows are pre-empted by the “Sweet Sixteen” and “Elite Eight” rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

In addition to being a talk show host, actor, novelist, screenwriter, director, producer, standup comedian, punk rock band drummer, theme song vocalist and pilot, Craig is also a columnist. After the passing of longtime Parade Magazine celebrity writer James Brady, the familiar staple of Sunday newspapers across the country began experimenting with different columns and writers to anchor its back page. They’ve decided now on a rotating group of columnists including Mitch Albom, Harlan Coben, David Gergen, Connie Schultz and the multi-talented Craig Ferguson. His first column for Parade will appear this Sunday but is available now online at Parade.com. In his debut opus, Craig waxes philosophic about the benefits and perils of electronic gadgetry.

Perhaps it’s a good day for some Craig Ferguson trivia. Does Craig have a favorite football (soccer) team? When asked in recent years, Craig jokes that his favorite (American football) team is the San Diego Chargers but when pressed to name a team back home, he opts for a non-controversial position. In and around Glasgow where Craig grew up, there is no more intense sporting rivalry than that between two clubs in the Scottish Premier League, known as the Celtic Football Club and the Rangers Football Club. In deference to enthusiastic fans on both sides (and perhaps in self-defense because the two popular clubs are fanatically revered and declaring allegiance to one team in the presence of the other’s fans may invite a brawl), Craig claims allegiance to a Glasgow team known as Partick Thistle Football Club, which plays in the First Division of the Scottish Football League, considered to be one notch below the Premier League. Curiously, the club is based in the Maryhill area of Glasgow and hasn’t played in Partick for more than a century but traditions in Scotland hold fast. Craig was raised in the town of Cumbernauld, just northeast of Glasgow. Cumbernauld has its own team called the Clyde Football Club which plays in the SFL’s second division. To avoid getting in too far over our head with the intricacies of Scottish sport and generations of rivalry and bitterness, we’ll stop there and invite you to research the teams on your own.

Craig tweeted a new picture: http://tweetphoto.com/14998953 Me hiding in a bathroom during press day for HTTYD @ 4 seasons in LA How come I always look guilty?

Moments later, he tweeted this from his hotel room: http://tweetphoto.com/15001125 LA from balcony of 4 seasons bedroom. Take that Paris. (the city, she’s not in the room)
And more from the How To Train Your Dragon press event:

http://tweetphoto.com/15012469 Stalking America. Take that court order. – http://tweetphoto.com/15004218 Jay Baruchel signing posters. He’s out of my league. – http://tweetphoto.com/15009065 (America, Gerry and Jay)

And since it’s the end of the week, it’s time for a Friday Fact: If @CraigyFerg ‘s 151,192 followers were laid out end to end, they would stretch from his LA studio to Tijuana, Mexico. (Assuming the US average adult height of 5 feet 4 inches and a couple of stops for gasoline and milkshakes along the way… you’d actually end up in the countryside a little south of Tijuana but who’s counting? When you’re in Tijuana it’s easy to get disoriented.)

We can enjoy one more “vintage” Late Late Show this week, dating all the way back to February 10th. Craig’s guests include Academy Award nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe, music from rockers OK Go and comic Jeff Stilson. New episodes return next week!

Craig and company are back in Los Angeles after their tour of the Southeast over the past week. Randy Kagan tweeted a picture of Craig getting on the plane: My buddy CF getting on the silver bullet. We are back from a week on the road. It was rifftastic! Now i can veg. http://yfrog.com/75ttrsj

Randy had also promised some backstage pictures of Craig and he delivered last night: Ladies and gentlemen, here’s Craig: http://yfrog.com/4wkzgj (showing us his family crest tattoo) Backstage pics. http://yfrog.com/5xjgcj Plus one more from the green room: Yes Craig has rubbed off on me. But it’s consensual. http://yfrog.com/2tscxj And even a bonus look at a photo of the late George Carlin. http://yfrog.com/15fzrjj

Earlier today, he added this picture: Stop over in Shreveport. http://yfrog.com/j793isj Thanks to Randy for sending us such great pictures!

The Southeastern US tour is in the books. Craig’s next live events will be further north, with standup performances in:

Apr 23 Toronto
Apr 24 Greensburg, PA
Apr 25 Cleveland
Apr 26 Royal Oak, MI
Apr 27 Cincinnati
Apr 28 Fort Wayne, IN
Apr 29 Milwaukee
Apr 30 Minneapolis
May 1 Chicago

Meanwhile, Grant Imahara has been hard at work in the Mythbuster’s lab, creating the robot skeleton sidekick known as Geoff Petersen. Last night, he tweeted: @CraigyFerg Staying late at the shop tonight to work on the robot skeleton’s eyes. April 5th seems to be sprialling ever closer!

On the Late Late Show, Thursday’s “encore presentation” is from January 26th of this year, featuring guests 50 Cent and Adrianne Palicki.