Doin’ TV Stuff
Craig Ferguson‘s Hot and Grumpy Tour: Walking the Earth resumes on May 23rd in Las Vegas. In the meantime, he’s doing TV things. His next scheduled appearance on our screens (apart from daily episodes of Celebrity Name Game) is planned for April 15th, when he’ll reprise his character of Simon as part of the final season of Hot In Cleveland. The episode was taped a while ago. He’s also been working on the pilot episode of The King of 7B for ABC. We don’t expect to hear about whether the show will be picked up until May, which is when the networks usually announce their fall lineups and planned winter replacements. While Craig’s touring company takes a break from the road, they tweeted out a picture of his hat.

Corden Debuts
James Corden made his debut as host of the Late Late Show on Monday night, to largely positive reviews. Some critics called his first outing a success, while others praised the show and promised to watch the new host grow into the job in the coming months. The Hollywood Reporter and the UK’s Telegraph provided summaries of what the critics have been saying. Some contrasted Craig Ferguson’s worldly-wise and subversive approach, to Corden’s geniality and understated British humor, including the witty lyrics to his closing musical number. Newsday called the first show a “strong start,” the Independent said Corden will win over American audiences, The Wrap called the show impressive, and the Winnipeg Free Press said although the early shows will be more about establishing Corden’s identity, he’ll soon become comfortable in the role. USA Today’s Robert Bianco summed it up this way: “…when he ended his show by thanking viewers for their time and asking them to return, it felt real. And real on TV is terribly rare. If for no other reason than that, you should wish Corden the best.” We agree.

Things to Know
The RSA’s @TheLaterShow spotted a story on Buzzfeed, with things everyone needs to know about the new Late Late Show with James Corden.

Lassally’s Retirement
As we mentioned in a previous post, as the new regime of The Late Late Show takes over at CBS Television City, a behind-the-scenes late-night legend has retired. Peter Lassally was profiled in Variety this past week, to honor his career and look back at the work he did to shape the television landscape.

Josh’s Film Wins Award
The feature film Nowhere Girl, starring Josh Robert Thompson, has been making the festival circuit and picked up an award over the weekend. It won the Bud Abbott Award for Best Comedy. Congratulations to Josh and everyone who worked on the movie!

Dirt Detective
The RSA’s @chandlersdame recently wrote about a television series Craig hosted in the UK in 1993 called The Dirt Detective. There are some clips on YouTube which we have posted here in the past. For a dose of Scottish history from your favorite Scot, be sure to take a look.

From Beginning to End
The RSA’s mirko miric put together a video with clips from Craig’s first and last Late Late Shows and several in between, to give you a sense of the show’s ten-year run. Thanks to the RSA’s @Colleen_Byrne for letting us know about it.

Video courtesy: mirko miric

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