Positive Vibes
We’ve let most of the wild speculation about the future of Craig Ferguson and The Late Late Show go by during the past couple of weeks. Frankly, most of it has been nonsense, with some stories being disproved within hours of being published, only to surface again elsewhere, without foundation. Even in what is otherwise a great piece about Craig and the show on DeadSpin.com, writer Rob Harvilla repeats the completely debunked rumor about Chelsea Handler being considered to host the show in the future, and compounds the felony by claiming to know that Craig won’t stay around for a while (he doesn’t know, nor do we). The rest of the piece is excellent, however, so we decided to link to it here so you can see some of the great things being said about Craig and the show. He outlines many of the reasons we enjoy watching every night. As for what might happen next? We’ll wait to hear it from the horse’s mouth (and we don’t mean Secretariat).

Ahoy Nessie
Users of the Apple maps app on iPhones, iPads, etc. have noticed a strange ripple in the waters of Loch Ness in Scotland. As you might expect, this has led to speculation about whether a passing satellite managed to capture an image of the elusive Loch Ness Monster. Skeptics say the ripples could be wind or the wake of a small boat, but those who make their living selling Nessie dolls to tourists beg to differ. The ripples have so far only been seen in the satellite photo Apple uses in its map program and have not been seen in Google maps or similar products.

London Cabbie
On Tuesday, Craig retweeted a link to a short film profiling a 40-year veteran London cab driver, in his own words. Whether you’ve been to London or just dreamed about it, this clip gives you a small slice of life from a unique perspective.

Video courtesy: NorthLondonCares

May Sweeps Guests
Just as April showers bring May flowers, April gives way to the May television ratings “sweeps” period and the talk show guest lists get better and better. Craig Ferguson will welcome a great lineup of guests to The Late Late Show in the next month, including George Lopez, Cedric The Entertainer, Billie Piper, Eddie Izzard, Lyle Lovett, Billy Bob Thornton, Jackie Collins, LL Cool J, Valerie Bertinelli, Rachel Taylor, Cheryl Hines, Elisabeth Moss, Tom Felton, Christina Hendricks, Lisa Kudrow, Kathy Griffin, Regis Philbin, Jeff Foxworthy and many more. Take a look at our Guests page for the most complete listings.

Demographics? More or Less Bunk
After decades of selling television advertising based on age-based demographics, CBS and the Nielson ratings service appear to be switching gears. Essentially admitting that buying ads based on the age of viewers doesn’t translate into sales, the network may be taking a new approach. In a detailed article by Marty Kaplan at the University of Southern California, he explains the ratings of the future could be based on psychographic data for better accuracy. Rather than going after males 18-34 or females 25-49, advertisers could seek out six groups of viewers based on their behavior. The groups would be called TV companions, media trendsetters, sports enthusiasts, program passionates, surfers and streamers, and TV moderators. If a program rated highly among one or two such groups, advertisers could tailor their ads to better reach those groups, and maybe get more sales as a result. As the RSA’s @RaniVermonty pointed out when sending us the link to this story, the RSA could easily be described as “program passionates.” Given Craig’s long-standing annoyance about trying to target demographic groups for ratings, perhaps the new categories may be more to his liking.

HTTYD2 First Five
If you just can’t wait until June 13, here are the first five minutes of the DreamWorks animated feature film How To Train Your Dragon 2, featuring the voice of Craig Ferguson. Because it’s the full start of the film, some may consider it a bit spoiler-y, but no major plot points are unveiled. Use your own judgment.

Video courtesy: YahooMovies

Crossing the Finnish Line
During last Thursday’s opening segment of The Late Late Show, Craig Ferguson chatted with two ladies from Finland. He asked them about where they were from and learned they were on vacation. At the end of the segment, he offered to send them to a local Los Angeles steakhouse, only to discover they were vegetarians. News of the segment reached Finland, and was mentioned in the entertainment section of a Finnish website. Here is the original version, along with a Google Translate version. Thanks to the RSA’s @bgrhubarb for finding the link!

Easter Eggs
Josh Robert Thompson‘s latest Driving Myself Crazy podcast features his preacher character The Apostle BG, expounding on the connection between Easter, eggs and zombies.

Dragon Quidditch?
Another new clip from the upcoming DreamWorks animated feature film How To Train Your Dragon 2 has been released, featuring a game involving dragons and sheep (do your own Scottish joke). The film premieres June 13.

Video courtesy: Mega Trailers

She Really Loves Science
Back in March, we and many media outlets like CNet.com told you about a new television show coming to the Science Channel (part of Discovery Networks) called I F-ing Love Science, which will be executive produced and possibly hosted and/or narrated by Craig Ferguson (media accounts vary on the scope of his on-air role, although in his videotaped announcement at South by Southwest, he hinted he might be seen or heard on the show). The show is based on the Facebook page and website of similar names, run by blogger Elise Andrew. As it turns out, she really love science. Andrew has been profiled in Canada’s MacLeans magazine and Mashable.com.

Other Craig Fergusons
As we dog paddle around the Internet looking for news about Craig, we occasionally stumble across other Craig Fergusons, including an investment banker in Australia, a photographer and a Canadian hockey player. There is also a musician from the Los Angeles area named Craig Ferguson. He is a guitarist, who does studio recordings and performs live around the country. From time to time, his name pops up on Ticketmaster when you search the name. Be sure to give a listen to his take on “Wade in the Water.”

Cookin’ Wit Bobby
Josh Robert Thompson has posted a new clip of Cookin’ Wit Bobby from his WJRT pilot.

Video courtesy: JoshRobertThompson

HTTYD2 Website
Excitement is building for the DreamWorks animated feature film How To Train Your Dragon 2, featuring the voice of Craig Ferguson. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the film’s website, it’s been adding new material each week. So far, it includes profiles of the vikings and the dragons that will be featured in the movie, preview clips, an updated trailer, backgrounds for your computer, animated gifs and more, and they are unlocking new content regularly. The film opens on June 13.

Your Taxes At Work
The RSA’s @RaniVermonty let us know that the National Journal enjoyed Craig’s Monday monologue. They included clips on marijuana vending machines in Colorado and how your tax dollars are put to good use.

Sports Predictions
In this monologue from 2006, Craig talks about predicting sporting events.

Video courtesy: FrankGerbertson

The Other Late Late Show
If you keep an eye on Twitter and notice conversations about television shows like we do, you’ve probably seen people chatting about “The Late Late Show,” but not the one we know and love. Instead, they’re talking about Ireland’s Late Late Show, one of the longest-running talk shows in the world (behind only NBC’s Tonight Show). Considered the most popular show in Ireland, the show has had only four permanent hosts in its long history, including one, Gay Byrne, who hosted most of the show’s first 37 years. It is often a focal point of the nation’s conversation, with guests ranging from the usual actors and singers to politicians, authors, sports figures and more. It runs from September to May each year and takes summers off. What would happen if Craig Ferguson was a guest on Ireland’s Late Late Show, or if he invited current host Ryan Tubridy to be guest on the LLS in the U.S.? We think they’d have fun.

Josh Looks Inward
In the latest episode of his podcast Driving Myself Crazy, Josh Robert Thompson takes a journey inside his mind that has the sound of a public radio-style program, complete with underwriter credits at the end.

Craig on Flu Watch
In this monologue from 2006, Craig is on flu watch and recalls hallucinogens.

Video courtesy: FrankGerbertson

Yes, We Have a Picture
We would be remiss were we not to mark the news that beloved actress Angela Lansbury has been named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Now 88 years old and still performing in live theatrical productions, the tireless star of stage and screen is British-born, and although she lived most of her life in the United States, she has spent many an hour on London stages.

Perhaps best known by American television audiences as Jessica Fletcher in one of the longest-running television detective shows Murder She Wrote, her career encompasses many film and stage roles. She has won five Tony Awards, six Golden Globes, was nominated for a record 18 Emmy Awards and was thrice nominated for an Academy Award. Last year, she was presented with an honorary Oscar for her outstanding work in seven decades in films.

If you don’t know much about her beyond Craig’s long-running gag mixing up photos of her and Paul McCartney, we urge you to learn more and see some of her films. And yes, we have a picture of Angela Lansbury… three in fact.

Fostering Fun
Enjoyable Late Late Show guest Sutton Foster will have a new sitcom in the fall, starring along with actress Hillary Duff in a show called Younger on TVLand. As the trade publication Variety reports, the project is the newest series developed by Sex and the City creator Darren Star.

Proper Football
In this monologue from 2006, Craig ponders football… the proper kind, of course.

Video courtesy: FrankGerbertson