The Late Late Show With James Corden - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Your James Topic!

[Meredith Quill]

Your Media Topic!

[HalcyonDays]

The official start date is March 9th, 2015!

 

James Corden to start 'Late Late Show' March 9

[opus]

Between Craig and James:

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/10/23/late-late-show-james-corden-march-2015/

[ApathyMonger]

Reggie Watts will be bandleader: http://deadline.com/2014/12/james-corden-late-late-show-writing-producing-team-reggie-watts-bandleader-cbs-1201322260/

 

Weird transition from Comedy Bang! Bang! to an actual late-night talk show.

[HalcyonDays]

Before James Corden takes over as host, the show is going to be having a revolving door of guest hosts.

Link to the schedule.

[gambrelli]

Loved seeing Regis host the the show for two nights this week with guests Martin Short, Alan Alda, David Letterman et al. It was great.....finally intelligent, witty, and genuine conversation again. TV for grown-ups! A class act.

[sum]

One Great Unknown Steps Into Another
James Corden Prepares for ‘Late Late Show’ on CBS

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/arts/television/james-corden-prepares-for-late-late-show-on-cbs.html

[opus]

First JC guest:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/late-late-show-james-cordens-775571

[Vikitty]

I saw this for the first time ever last week and I cried with laughter. This was shortly before Into The Woods, I believe.

 

[Silje]

I love the story about his meeting with Spike Jonze and when he talks about his love for Take That. 

Edited February 27, 2015 by Silje

[Vikitty]

If you haven't seen it, here's the full performance of him and Gary Barlow singing Pray that they showed a bit of:

 

[The Collector]

On A League of Their Own, Corden alternates between being obsequious to the guests and taking cheap shots at them, or insulting the regular panelists.  On Seth Myers show, he was very obsequious (Seriously, that's the correct spelling?).  On Stephen Colbert, he could barely get a word in.  I don't think he has the right stuff.  I probably won't watch it at all.  I'm just mostly concerned about getting another season of A League of Their Own, hopefully without Corden, although I don't know who else could do that job. 

[HalcyonDays]

The Late Late Show premieres Monday, March 23rd, 2015 at 12:35 am ET

 

Corden's very first guests are: *drumrollplease*: TOM HANKS and MILA KUNIS! Musical guest is One Direction.

 

Kerry Washington, Kevin Hart and Will Ferrell will appear later in the week.

 

Here is the link to the Late Late Show's homepage.

[opus]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is the guy had a relatively successful movie/TV career going. Is that totally on hold, or are there going to be a lot of reruns/guest hosts? I do, however, enjoy the stories of the upcoming guest list, i.e. everybody who is on every other talk show.

[nowandlater]

To me, the most annoying thing about Craig Ferguson's show was that some tragedy would happen, and Craig would have to go on Twitter to say that tonight's show was pretaped. This happened a couple times.

 

I get how some talk shows like to pretape in advance. Letterman taping 2 shows on Thursday is well-known.

 

But I hate the way the Late Late Show does it.

 

You reasonably expect every other talk show, from Seth Meyers to Kimmel to Fallon to be taped within a day of airing. But I guess those shows are topical.

 

It was all over the British tabloids last night that Kunis told Corden that she's married on tonight's show.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/finally-mila-kunis-admits-ashton-5383827

 

Which begs the question: When exactly was tonight's show taped?

 

Was this entire week taped already?

 

Do they do 3 shows a day or something? Is this how like Jeopardy tapes?

 

I noticed that Corden is going to be Conan's guest on Wednesday. When I saw that, I thought, "wouldn't he want to concentrate on his own show during his debut week?" But he probably will be done for the week by then.

 

Anyways, I first heard of Corden about 7 years ago. He and his comedy partner Matthew Horne were guest hosts of the talk show for Big Brother UK (Big Brother's Big Mouth) -- they sort of replaced Russell Brand, who went on to host his own failed US talk show.

 

As for Corden, I hope he's either a massive failure or a massive success (so Seth Meyers has some serious competition). Nothing in between.

 

EDIT: Deadline reports Monday's episode was taped Sunday night. So they have to work on weekends?

 

Edited March 23, 2015 by nowandlater

[Ms Blue Jay]

Why am I seeing the listing tonight as Chris Pine and Modest Mouse?  No offense to those guests but I would never care to watch that.....

Edited March 23, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[dbrits]

Which begs the question: When exactly was tonight's show taped?

You've already edited your post with answer to your question, but last night there were photos floating around on Instagram and Twitter of Tom Hanks and Mila Kunis with Chris Hardwick and Yvette Nicole Brown. The latter two had just taped The Talking Dead which tapes on the old Late Late Show set. I thought perhaps they were taping a rehearsal show but they usually don't do those with the actual guests.

So the first musical guest is One Direction? I think that's a good indication that this show may not be for me.

Can I just say that I hate the new logo? The neon "Late Late" is too 80s for my taste. I almost expect Cordon to ditch the socks and wear a pastel-colored tee under a white suit like a British Don Johnson.

[HalcyonDays]

Is it possible that the weird taping schedule is so that it might be easier to get names onto Corden's show, that otherwise would be booked on other talk shows. Like, he's a newbie, competing with Fallon, Seth Meyers, Kimmel, Conan, Larry Wilmore, and Colbert, when he starts up. I mean, the competition was already there, but he's a newbie to the US audience, so while he's getting established, they tape on Sunday and maybe even Saturday, to snag the bigger guests that might otherwise book themselves onto another show during the week. Just speculating.

 

On that note, here is the schedule for this week. Now makes me wonder if the delay/time of taping has to do with other factors.

 

THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN, CBS

Mo 3/23: Tom Hanks, Mila Kunis
Tu 3/24: Chris Pine, Modest Mouse
We 3/25: Kevin Hart, Will Ferrell, Leon Bridges
Th 3/26: Rerun TBA
Fr 3/27: Rerun TBA

Mo 3/30: David Beckham, Claire Danes, Bob Odenkirk
Tu 3/31: Thomas Lennon, Matthew Perry, Aubrey Plaza
We 4/1: Jeremy Piven, Olly Murs
Th 4/2: Jeff Goldblum, Rick Schwartz

 

[opus]

Th 3/26: Rerun TBA

Fr 3/27: Rerun TBA

Well, there really are only 3 choices.

[nowandlater]

Is it possible that the weird taping schedule is so that it might be easier to get names onto Corden's show, that otherwise would be booked on other talk shows. Like, he's a newbie, competing with Fallon, Seth Meyers, Kimmel, Conan, Larry Wilmore, and Colbert, when he starts up. I mean, the competition was already there, but he's a newbie to the US audience, so while he's getting established, they tape on Sunday and maybe even Saturday, to snag the bigger guests that might otherwise book themselves onto another show during the week. Just speculating.

 

On that note, here is the schedule for this week. Now makes me wonder if the delay/time of taping has to do with other factors.

 

 

Yeah, but James Corden has the advantage of taping in L.A., where (I've heard) 90% of people in the entertainment industry live.

 

His only competition for guests, really, are: Kimmel and Conan.

 

Also, he's at a great location near/in Hollywood.

 

It's not all the way in Burbank like Conan's show and it's not in the traffic mess that's Hollywood Blvd where Kimmel tapes.

 

(Full disclosure: I went to high school 2 blocks from The Late Late Show studio. And so did Mila Kunis. And so did Ashton Kutcher's ex-wife Demi Moore..., so I'm very familiar with the area. (I also played little league baseball in the park next door to the studio.)

 

 

My guess is they taped on Sunday so that they'd have a clip available earlier on Monday to promote the show and Mila's "bombshell" marriage revelation, which isn't true, actually. They're not married.

 

But I hope they don't devolve into Craig's schedule. I like Craig, but him "banking" episodes while touring the country made it seem like his talk show was a low priority, like an afterthought.

 

I haven't watched the show, but based on the Mila clip, he's obviously trying to capture Graham Norton. But it's so weird. I think Graham is the only talk show host (British or American) who interviews people from the left. Oh, wait. I forgot about Andy Cohen.

 

A few years ago, Slate had an article about why talk show hosts interview people from the right.

 

Also, he's not behind a desk. He's on a roller chair. It doesn't look right. He's obviously trying to do things different from everybody els. I remember Kimmel started his show sitting behind a desk with no tie, and a bar. Eventually, he conformed.

 

 

[alynch]

Pretty decent first show. The intro bit was pretty good, although I'm getting pretty tired of the convention of doing some extended cameo-fest. They're always so transparently manufactured to go viral. Also, the way Leno keeps showing up everywhere after his show wrapped is really going to really make me appreciate how Letterman'll probably just disappear to a ranch in Montana or wherever.

 

I like the idea of having both guests come out at once, but I think the way they did it rendered it somewhat pointless. They just did one segment where Kunis got the questions and another where Hanks got the questions. I think it would be better if he tried to interview them both at the same time, either with group questions or going back and forth between them.

[Jaded]

I missed the first 10 to 15 min so is it wrong to assume that One Direction wasn't on at all? I read on an entertainment site that one of the members pulled out of the group for awhile over some cheating scandal so maybe they cancelled?  

If they get James a regular chair to sit in while interviewing and not the wheeled one I think he could make that interviewing method work. Didn't Tom Snyder do something like that when he was on NBC? I ask because it looked like he did from the clips I've seen of his Tomorrow Show over the years. I know for Tom's stints on CNBC and CBS he did the one on one interviews sitting across from his guests. They could do away with the desk altogether. Bob Costas did the no desk thing too but I wanted to include a clip of Tom.

Edited March 24, 2015 by Jaded

[ruby24]

I also think he should try to talk to them both at the same time if they're going to come out at once.

[Rickster]

I'm guessing the compressed taping schedule is so Corden can still have some sort of family life/career in the UK, nothing to do with guests availability. But I don't see how that works in the long run.

[Gregg247]

I enjoyed the show last night.  I like the idea of bringing "all" the guests out at once and creating more of a chat-type atmosphere.  It's a little less scripted and more conversational.

 

Last night was a gimme, though, as both Tom Hanks and Mila Kunis are considered very good talk show guests and can talk about just about anything.  What's going to happen when his guest list devolves to what Craig Ferguson was always stuck with--one mildly famous person from some CBS show and one person few people have ever heard of?  There may be some lllooonnnggg episodes in the near future.

 

Otherwise, thumbs up.  I don't generally watch late night shows anymore, but I like that this guy is trying something a little different.

[car54]

I am not super familiar with Corden, but I found my mind wandering through the skits--the interview part was ok--nothing too exciting but ok.   The comedy bits were just meh for me.

[BW Manilowe]

I'm guessing the compressed taping schedule is so Corden can still have some sort of family life/career in the UK, nothing to do with guests availability. But I don't see how that works in the long run.

He & his family have actually moved here to the States. I think I read they moved here in January. And he was also, before this, in the cast of a Tony-winning musical (I think... Might've been a straight play) from the last Broadway season or the season before; so he's at least been working in the States for awhile, if not living here before this year as well. But I still see your point about being able to easily commute to/from the UK as needed/desired.

[Kromm]

I enjoyed the show last night.  I like the idea of bringing "all" the guests out at once and creating more of a chat-type atmosphere.  It's a little less scripted and more conversational.

I haven't seen the episode yet.  

 

If this is what they've done, it's an idea borrowed from Graham Norton.  Which is fine.  A US based show has needed to do it.

 

EDIT - speaking of stuff borrowed from UK "chat shows", the "look who's in our Green Room" bit (somewhat tweaked to have two rooms instead) is borrowed from Graham Norton's main UK competitor, Jonathan Ross.

 

For me the biggest barrier with Cordon is still his almost total unfamiliarity with the subtleties of US culture.  He knows what's made it's way overseas about us. Living here for a few months surrounding a Broadway show isn't the level of familiarity needed to catch on to certain things. What our late night TV is like. Shopping in our supermarkets. Figures of speech that don't make their way into internationally marketed movies or TV.  What it's like to hang out at an American shopping mall.  Driving on our roads and the humor and references to be gotten from that.  And a million other things.

 

Remember that in contrast, both Craig Ferguson and John Oliver lived in the US for at least a decade before becoming show hosts--they could provide BOTH the outsider and insider views side by side rather than simply being outsiders.

 

That said, the "all at once" guest format is a strong device and may be enough to buoy the show for long enough for him to gain an audience. That said, Norton does it with 3-4 guests, and seeing that it's going to be done here with 2, it might not be as effective.  The whole point of it is to generate a kind of cocktail party vibe, and you don't really get that with two guests.

 

--------

 

Okay, watching it now.  Corden's monologue type jokes aren't that strong, but I DID think the "Golden Ticket" filmed bit was quite funny.  Of course that relied on a lot of stunt casting, but whatever.  It worked. Yes, EVEN with Chin-O involved. And even with Arnie. I did like how it leveraged my exact objection (that he doesn't know shit about American culture).

And later on, although it's kind of "easy" comedy, not really requiring much setup or cleverness, I WAS entertained by the Tom Hanks career retrospective thing. If you've got Tom on your show and nobody's ever thought to have him do something like this before.., and he's WILLING to? You'd be a fool to not take advantage of his willingness and do it.

 

Last night was a gimme, though, as both Tom Hanks and Mila Kunis are considered very good talk show guests and can talk about just about anything.  What's going to happen when his guest list devolves to what Craig Ferguson was always stuck with--one mildly famous person from some CBS show and one person few people have ever heard of?  There may be some lllooonnnggg episodes in the near future.

 

Yeah, he was blessed with home run guests for his opening shows.  Tom Hanks is a good guest, and Mila Kunis is even better (she's inherently a very expressive, very interesting person).  That said, I DON'T think you need stars as big as this for it to work--ESPECIALLY if they eventually cut down on skits and have three guests instead.  The formula that Norton uses brilliantly is that it's BETTER if at least one of the guests is a very different level of fame.  It makes the whole interaction more fun.  The important thing is making sure the conversation flows, and with this format it's all on the head of the host knowing how to do that format.  Frankly, opening skit about Jay Leno's "talk show" training aside, Leno in real life could never handle this format.  It's actually about what you might call 'active listening', where the host has to know when to let one guest go on, when to let the other guest(s) bounce stuff off the first guest speaking, and when to break in with a new question for a different guest.  Leno's (often shitty) approach to guest interviews never showed any real flexibility.

Edited March 24, 2015 by Kromm

[BW Manilowe]

I haven't seen the episode yet.

If this is what they've done, it's an idea borrowed from Graham Norton. Which is fine. A US based show has needed to do it.

EDIT - speaking of stuff borrowed from UK "chat shows", the "look who's in our Green Room" bit (somewhat tweaked to have two rooms instead) is borrowed from Graham Norton's main UK competitor, Jonathan Ross.

For me the biggest barrier with Cordon is still his almost total unfamiliarity with the subtleties of US culture. He knows what's made it's way overseas about us. Living here for a few months surrounding a Broadway show isn't the level of familiarity needed to catch on to certain things. What our late night TV is like. Shopping in our supermarkets. Figures of speech that don't make their way into internationally marketed movies or TV. What it's like to hang out at an American shopping mall. Driving on our roads and the humor and references to be gotten from that. And a million other things.

Remember that in contrast, both Craig Ferguson and John Oliver lived in the US for at least a decade before becoming show hosts--they could provide BOTH the outsider and insider views side by side rather than simply being outsiders.

That said, the "all at once" guest format is a strong device and may be enough to buoy the show for long enough for him to gain an audience. That said, Norton does it with 3-4 guests, and seeing that it's going to be done here with 2, it might not be as effective. The whole point of it is to generate a kind of cocktail party vibe, and you don't really get that with two guests.

--------

Okay, watching it now. Corden's monologue type jokes aren't that strong, but I DID think the "Golden Ticket" filmed bit was quite funny. Of course that relied on a lot of stunt casting, but whatever. It worked. Yes, EVEN with Chin-O involved. And even with Arnie. I did like how it leveraged my exact objection (that he doesn't know shit about American culture).

And later on, although it's kind of "easy" comedy, not really requiring much setup or cleverness, I WAS entertained by the Tom Hanks career retrospective thing. If you've got Tom on your show and nobody's ever thought to have him do something like this before.., and he's WILLING to? You'd be a fool to not take advantage of his willingness and do it.

Yeah, he was blessed with home run guests for his opening shows. Tom Hanks is a good guest, and Mila Kunis is even better (she's inherently a very expressive, very interesting person). That said, I DON'T think you need stars as big as this for it to work--ESPECIALLY if they eventually cut down on skits and have three guests instead. The formula that Norton uses brilliantly is that it's BETTER if at least one of the guests is a very different level of fame. It makes the whole interaction more fun. The important thing is making sure the conversation flows, and with this format it's all on the head of the host knowing how to do that format. Frankly, opening skit about Jay Leno's "talk show" training aside, Leno in real life could never handle this format. It's actually about what you might call 'active listening', where the host has to know when to let one guest go on, when to let the other guest(s) bounce stuff off the first guest speaking, and when to break in with a new question for a different guest. Leno's (often shitty) approach to guest interviews never showed any real flexibility.

But he's lived here for more than just the term of his contract with/the run of the Broadway show he was in. As I said, he & his family moved here from the UK in, like, January. No that's not the same amount of time Craig Ferguson &/or John Oliver lived here before starting their shows, but you'd think he could've maybe made it to a local grocery, neighborhood strip mall, or major local shopping mall, for "people watching" or whatever--even for an hour or so--since January.

[redlaces]

I didn't think it was too  bad, I'll give it a chance. The only thing that grated was his laugh. I liked the Tom Hanks movie montage. The Burbs!!!

[Jaded]

I just wanted to clarify that I knew that Corden and Co. are trying to borrow from Graham Norton's format in the UK. I like the throwback neon lettering too.

[nowandlater]

But he's lived here for more than just the term of his contract with/the run of the Broadway show he was in. As I said, he & his family moved here from the UK in, like, January. No that's not the same amount of time Craig Ferguson &/or John Oliver lived here before starting their shows, but you'd think he could've maybe made it to a local grocery, neighborhood strip mall, or major local shopping mall, for "people watching" or whatever--even for an hour or so--since January.

 

Here's Corden photographed yesterday at a shopping mall. His studio is next door to The Grove, a big outdoor mall.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3009277/James-Corden-beats-rival-Seth-Meyers-ratings-1-66-million-viewers.html

 

I believe I read somewhere that he was on stage in  NYC early in his career.

 

Some random thoughts:

 

--Mila Kunis is essentially the Queen of The Late Late Show. In addition to appearing on Craig Kilborn's show 4 times, she appeared on Ferguson's show at least 10 times, including his Scotland trip. So it was a great idea to have her on the first show.

 

 

--I wonder if that black guy playing a CBS executive really works as a CBS executive. Or if he's an actor.

 

--I like that the show CBS Television City as if it's a famous place, which it should be. Elvis used to do shows from there. Letterman used to work there as a writer.

 

--I hope they do more "out in L.A." bits. What's been disappointing about Fallon/Meyers is that they made a point of being NYC shows, yet they never or rarely venture outside. (I've counted twice that Meyers has done a filmed bit outside.) Meyers doesn't even go outside his studio, like Conan and Letterman would frequently do.

 

--A few reviews described this show as CBS' answer to Jimmy Fallon. I guess he is sort of Fallon-esque.

 

--I hope they get rid of the bar. It doesn't look right. I also hope they stop focusing on the audience so much. I really don't want to see the audience.

 

--Just to point out about Graham Norton: He tapes about 32 shows a year. Corden will reach his 32nd show the 1st week of May. Also. Graham tapes 90 minutes and cuts out half an hour (according to Chris Rock). Corden doesn't have the luxury of doing that.

 

--He narrowly beat Seth last night. I hope that continues.

Edited March 24, 2015 by nowandlater

[opus]

And minor bonus points for thanking Craig, unlike the Johnny-Jay transition.

[Nidratime]

I thought it was okay. I'm really not his audience, though, because I can rarely stay up that late. I caught last night's show the next day, via the web. What I liked most about it was what some of you have mentioned: bringing all the guests out at once. (He should have more guests, though.) I've always enjoyed it when the guests -- who don't necessarily know each other,  mix it up. Back in the day, Johnny -- and maybe those before him -- would have the first guest out and that person would stay. The second guest would come out and the first would just move over to the couch. By the end of the show, you had all the guests out together. That was a semblance of what Corden is doing, but I prefer bringing them all out at the same time, like Graham Norton. Plus, doesn't Norton have drinks there to loosen people up?

 

Anyway, *that* for me is the big plus and perhaps they've done it that way because Corden isn't an experienced interviewer. So, it helps to have other guests jump in to comment as well.

[Kromm]

--I hope they get rid of the bar. It doesn't look right. I also hope they stop focusing on the audience so much. I really don't want to see the audience.

Hmmm. Sorry to be contrary, but the bar and the very visible audience were for me two of the best aspects.

A LOT of seeing the audience is a staple not only of Norton (Corden's clear inspiration, except for the bits he cribbed from Jonathan Ross), but also of a ton of US talk shows that bounce around their sets a lot.

--Just to point out about Graham Norton: He tapes about 32 shows a year. Corden will reach his 32nd show the 1st week of May. Also. Graham tapes 90 minutes and cuts out half an hour (according to Chris Rock). Corden doesn't have the luxury of doing that.

If we follow that line of logic since Norton has done what? About a decade and a half of shows, then Corden should catch up in about a year and a half and be on his level, right?

Well, probably not. But again, it's a strong format choice that should be able to survive more frequent use. The time restrictions will indeed make a difference. Its a 45 minute show, albeit one that CAN still be edited--just that each episode would have to be edited the SAME day it's shot, within an hour or two of being recorded, tops, so they're much likelier to keep most of the show intact (whereas Norton's show has I think a week or two to be edited before they air them). So Corden's show will be more "raw" than Norton's even in a best case.

The two guest format DID seem okay for this first episode (we shall see what happens with Episode 2 tonight). That said, I wish time permitted three guests. There's so much more opportunity for the host to play with the conversation that way, but I guess it's just not practical, booking-wise (and kind of expensive, I guess).

And minor bonus points for thanking Craig, unlike the Johnny-Jay transition.

Good point. Then again, being classier than Jay Leno is not a high bar!

[MartinKSmith]

--Just to point out about Graham Norton: He tapes about 32 shows a year. Corden will reach his 32nd show the 1st week of May. Also. Graham tapes 90 minutes and cuts out half an hour (according to Chris Rock). Corden doesn't have the luxury of doing that.

All your other points stand, but The Graham Norton Show is now a 50min show and has been for a while now. It used to be 30mins when he first moved to BBC and for a while there was an "extra bits" show that brought it up to 45mins that aired the following sunday or monday (can't remember which). But yeah, 50min show now. How much footage is filmed to cut it down to that, I don't know. 

Minor point, but felt I'd point it out. 

I enjoyed the show last night, as many have already said, it was an easy show to enjoy with the guests, etc. I'm interested to see where he goes from here. I feel guests will have a big say in whether the show works or not, but that could be said for any talk show.

[Kromm]

Also, he's not behind a desk. He's on a roller chair. It doesn't look right. He's obviously trying to do things different from everybody els. I remember Kimmel started his show sitting behind a desk with no tie, and a bar. Eventually, he conformed.

The desk seems pointless. If you're going to do Norton, do the full Norton. The desk seems like a crutch, if it's only there for a single short setup period after Corden enters, but before the guests come out.

 

 

I haven't watched the show, but based on the Mila clip, he's obviously trying to capture Graham Norton. But it's so weird. I think Graham is the only talk show host (British or American) who interviews people from the left. Oh, wait. I forgot about Andy Cohen.

Actually Jonathan Ross does it that direction too.

But Ross SWITCHED.  He used to do it the other direction.

 

[nowandlater]

I guess the early taping is good to get the word out for tonight's episode at the beginning of the day. (Early numbers show Corden beating Seth on Night 2.)

 

This was posted at 8:30 am.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MePMz-owdD8

 

Meanwhile, I thought Night 2 wasn't bad. Patricia Arquette and Chris Pine seemingly had a lot of fun. And the pizza bit was a combo Leno/Kimmel bit. (Leno would go into people's homes all the time.) I thought the monlogue was pretty terrible.

 

Next week kicks off with 2 3-guest panels (David Beckham, Claire Danes, Bob Odenkirk on Monday and Thomas Lennon, Matthew Perry, Aubrey Plaza on Tuesday).

Edited March 25, 2015 by nowandlater

[Kromm]

Next week kicks off with 2 3-guest panels (David Beckham, Claire Danes, Bob Odenkirk on Monday and Thomas Lennon, Matthew Perry, Aubrey Plaza on Tuesday).

The key to that is that the show has to limit itself to either ONE skit or musical guest (not both) if there are 3 guests.

[stonehaven]

I tried getting into the show..seen some of the bits online but I just couldn't. I may be getting to old for these childish shows where everything must go viral...

For me, there's a difference between silly and funny...and this guy seems more silly. if people go for it, that's fine but i think I am tired of Late Night shows being so noise-filled with a "look at how clever I can be with celebrities"...That car segment with Mariah went on too long...

I watch clips of Johnny Carson's monologue and there's no videos..no audience games..just jokes..told in a dry way....and the difference now is startling...

Yep...when Letterman signs off, I may sign off from the whole Late Night experience...

..although, I loved the Tom Hanks bit..as I adore Tom Hanks...

[MartinKSmith]

Three shows in and I'm still enjoying the show. More than I thought I would, actually. It still needs to be worked on slightly - I agree with Stonehaven that the carpool thing was too long, but the concept still worked for me, seeing someone like Mariah get involved with something like that was fun, they could have just stood to edit it down a little more. 

 

While I get that the guests are all actors and it's kind of their job to pretend for a living, they genuinely seem to be having fun on the show. If that's the case, then word of mouth could help James keep getting decent guests to appear. While Ferguson didn't always have A-listers, I often heard people on other shows/podcasts talk about how fun his show was, and the people he did have, often came back.

[Kromm]

While I get that the guests are all actors and it's kind of their job to pretend for a living, they genuinely seem to be having fun on the show. If that's the case, then word of mouth could help James keep getting decent guests to appear. While Ferguson didn't always have A-listers, I often heard people on other shows/podcasts talk about how fun his show was, and the people he did have, often came back.

This show has something Ferguson didn't--CBS' direct support.  As witnessed by Les Moonves on Day 1 appearing on air in a bit.  While admittedly that kind of loyalty/commitment only lasts as long as the ratings does, it maybe in the short term means a little Viacom muscle thrown behind booking people.

 

Again though all the show really needs is one bigger star/viewer draw per episode.  The other or others can be quirkier guests, because the "all at once" formula means no downslope after the star comes on then leaves and someone people don't care about as much comes on. Instead, you maybe get a big star movie actor chatting with some rookie stand-up comedian, and/or old school TV actor, and/or book writer, and/or reality show person, with Corden acting as moderator/prompter.  

[dusang]

I saw this for the first time ever last week and I cried with laughter. This was shortly before Into The Woods, I believe.

 

 

What is the name of the game they are playing?  And how did Harry Styles come out as the funniest one??

[Kaoteek]

So far, I don't hate it. It probably won't become must-see tv for me, far from it (the skits/remotes do nothing for me, the monologues aren't particularly memorable, the interviews are so-so, I'm not too fond of the crowd-awkwardly-high-fiving-the-guests concept, and as much as i like Reggie Watts, the band doesn't bring anything to the show, so far), but it's tolerable. Which is always a good thing, I guess.

[MartinKSmith]

This show has something Ferguson didn't--CBS' direct support.  As witnessed by Les Moonves on Day 1 appearing on air in a bit.  While admittedly that kind of loyalty/commitment only lasts as long as the ratings does, it maybe in the short term means a little Viacom muscle thrown behind booking people.

 

Again though all the show really needs is one bigger star/viewer draw per episode.  The other or others can be quirkier guests, because the "all at once" formula means no downslope after the star comes on then leaves and someone people don't care about as much comes on. Instead, you maybe get a big star movie actor chatting with some rookie stand-up comedian, and/or old school TV actor, and/or book writer, and/or reality show person, with Corden acting as moderator/prompter.  

Yup. I'm from the UK, so I'm familiar with the Norton's format and also familiar with how awkward it was (and still is to an extent) now that Jonathan Ross has attempted something similar, by keeping the guests out. 

 

With Norton though (and the same will be true of Corden), a large portion of it will depend on how willing the guests are to go along with the idea. There have been weeks on Norton where the combo just doesn't work, and it's not for lack of trying from Norton. 

[MartinKSmith]

What is the name of the game they are playing?  And how did Harry Styles come out as the funniest one??

'Send to all', I guess. It was a thing on Michael's show, where he'd get a random member of the audiences phone and send a text message to all the contacts. James was on the final episode (of that series (and only series to date, I think)). 

Harry Styles had seen the show before (as this was the final episode), so knew what he was replying to. Whereas most other people didn't. 

[opus]

Having never seen the Brit talk shows, I'm not sure on the all guests at once format. The closest I've seen is old Tonight Show everyone stays on the couch, but still comes out one segment at a time.

[dusang]

'Send to all', I guess. It was a thing on Michael's show, where he'd get a random member of the audiences phone and send a text message to all the contacts. James was on the final episode (of that series (and only series to date, I think)). 

Harry Styles had seen the show before (as this was the final episode), so knew what he was replying to. Whereas most other people didn't.

Ooooh! Send To All. That makes more sense than "Centaur" which is what I thought they were saying!

[MartinKSmith]

Ooooh! Send To All. That makes more sense than "Centaur" which is what I thought they were saying!

I did think it was fairly self-explanatory in the clip, but if you thought they were saying 'Centaur', then it makes a little more sense as to why you were confused. hah.