More Polls, More Votes
Craig Ferguson is on a roll with online polls in the past couple of months, winning Ad Week’s readers choice poll for hottest late-night host, and TV.com’s funniest late-night host. Now it’s time for nominations for the Shorty Awards. You can nominate Craig for Social Media’s Best Comedian. The winner will be announced April 7th.

Naked Mole Rats
While Craig was surfing the tweety box, he spotted a tweet about Science Magazine naming the naked mole rate as “vertebrate of the year” for their role in cancer research. Craig tweeted:

“@qikipedia: The naked mole rat named Vertebrate of the Year by Science Magazine. pic.twitter.com/d0Uv7iLm4m” Dammit! I never win anything!

You’re still our favorite vertebrate, Craig. Getting that second Grammy nomination took real “backbone.”

Working with Wossy
Here’s a blast from the past: Craig being interviewed on British television by Jonathan Ross about his (then) current projects, stand up comedy and more.

Video courtesy: palimpsest2011

Sock It To Me
Craig Ferguson is kicking off his tenth season of The Late Late Show in trademark sartorial style, complete with three-piece suits and some fancy socks. The may be men’s “half hose” or perhaps even tights, as Craig tweeted:

New socks for season 10! Take that late night shows with an actual budget! #iadmittheylookliketights #theyaretights pic.twitter.com/8CZjcKfYjM

Bonus points to anyone who gets the classic TV reference in the headline to this story.

Fox Picks Up ‘Backstrom’
A new drama called Backstrom has been picked up by the Fox network, executive produced by past LLS guest Hart Hanson, creator of Bones and The Finder, and starring Rainn Wilson as an offensive detective trying and failing to correct his self-destructive behavior, reports Deadline.com. The show marks a return for Hanson to Fox, after CBS decided not to run with the series.


New Tweetmail Jingle
Check out the latest tweets and emails jingle, featuring Secretariat.

Video courtesy: CBS

Tennant Reads About Dragons
The audiobook version of Cressida Cowell‘s How To Train Your Dragon, narrated by Scottish actor David Tennant, is now available for sale in the U.S.

Josh Takes a Twitter Break

The Late Late Show’s Josh Robert Thompson has released his latest podcast, where he talks about some upcoming projects and his Twitter sabbatical.


Impressions Kit
The RSA’s @thirty3anda3rd recently posted a link to a great clip from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. It features in incomparably funny Albert Brooks with his prototype kit to help anyone do impressions of famous Hollywood stars. All these years later, it’s still hilarious.

Video courtesy: Johnny Carson

Bagpuss Stamp
The RSA’s James noticed a new set of postage stamps is being released in the UK, featuring several beloved children’s television characters. Among them is the “saggy old cloth cat” called Bagpuss. Craig Ferguson has mentioned Bagpuss on The Late Late Show. The character first appeared on TV 40 years ago and can been seen on the stamp in the upper left corner. Thanks for the story, James!

Valentine’s Show
A writer for the Austin, Texas local section of About.com recommends Craig’s upcoming show at the Paramount Theater as a non-Valentine option for Valentine’s Day. So far, tickets for the show have been available only to theater members, but they go on sale to the general public on January 9th. You can find the link and much more about Craig’s winter tour stops on our Live Comedy Tour page.


Brie Digs Craig
In an interview with Young Hollywood, Brie Larson talks about her appreciation for Craig. The Craig portion of the interview comes at about 4 minutes into the clip:

Video courtesy: YoungHollywood

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Craig Wins!
Thanks to Craig’s many fans (and the refresh buttons on their computers), our fearless leader came out on top in the TV.com poll for Funniest Late-Night Host. It’s nice to see Craig win a couple of these in row!

Dame Angela Lansbury

Actress Angela Lansbury has been named a Dame of the British Empire, for her lifetime of accomplishments on the stage, on the screen and for her commitment to philanthropy. We even have a picture of a young Angela Lansbury (not Paul McCartney this time).



Dragony Goodness
The new trailer for How To Train Your Dragon 2 has been released and it sets the mood for a new adventure. The film, featuring Craig’s voice as Gobber the Belch, opens in U.S. theaters on June 13.

Video courtesy: AwesomenessTV

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Tweety Break
As Craig Ferguson tweeted earlier this week, he’ll be enjoying some time off from The Late Late Show for the holidays:

I’m taking a break from the tweety box til after the holidays. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year a’body.

Hot and Grumpy Tour
After the holiday break, Craig will resume his Hot and Grumpy Tour, with stops across eastern Canada in January, followed by Texas and Georgia February. We anticipate some new tour dates will be added soon, so please keep checking back on our Live Comedy Tour page for the latest information. Book early to avoid disappointment!


Upcoming Guests
The talent bookers at The Late Late Show have been busy as beavers, lining up great guests for January, including Kathy Griffin, Don Cheadle, ZZ Ward, Patton Oswalt, Bob Saget, Kevin Bacon, Rhea Perlman, Kenneth Branagh, Morena Baccarin, Christina Ricci, Denis Leary and many more. Check out our Guests page for the most complete and up-to-date listings.

Craig and Pepe
In this classic clip from 2005, Craig sings “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” with Pepe the King Prawn:

Video courtesy: fergs4life

Holiday Break

As the Late Late Show moves into the holiday break, we here at RSA News will do the same. Encore presentations of the show are scheduled through January 3rd, and new episodes return on Monday, January 6th. You can see the most complete listings on our Guests page. If any Craig-related news pops up between now and then, we’ll post it here. Until then, we wish all of our loyal readers a happy holiday season. We cannot tell you what a joy it is to bring you the news about Craig and the Late Late Show every day. You make it all possible. Thank you!

‘Shy Fellas’ Band Grows
Craig Ferguson and Josh Robert Thompson have been slowly building the legend of the “Shy Fellas” band behind the curtain at The Late Late Show. They first talked about bandleader Alfredo Sauce. Then, after an email from Chicago radio personality Nick Digilio, they started naming individual band members, including the drummer they call “Nicky D.” Digilio talked about it on his radio show this week. Josh came up with Nicky D. and “Terry” the bass player, and later, Josh added a third voice for “Joey Turnips” the ocarina player. We can’t wait to hear who else gets added to the band!

Late Night’s Cheeky Monkey
Back in 2010, shortly before the arrival of Geoff Peterson, Craig was the subject of a feature article in the Los Angeles Times, which mentioned his lack of a sidekick (at the time) and lack of a band.

Holiday Flash Mob
Did you see the surprise concert performed by the U.S. Air Force Band at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC earlier this month? They did it in style:

Video courtesy: AFBlueTube