Trivia / The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

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• Corpsing:
  • Craig was not immune to this. The time Geoff made him cry is a highlight, but one episode of The Rather Late Programme from the 2008 primary elections went in an unexpected direction:
    Craig [dressed as Prince Charles, reading off Amusing Headlines in a preposterous RP accent]: "Hillary on Top of New Poll." Ooh, I hope Bill doesn't find out! [dissolves into laughter] Oh, that is the funniest ----ing thing I've ever seen!
  • Even Geoff Peterson occasionally fell victim to corpsing, especially after being asked about having a house in Scotland.
• Creator Backlash: When he first started out with the show Craig did was most hosts did and would take a headline and make fun of the people involved. He started to reconsider this after making fun of some personal things Kevin Costner was going through and recognized a cold reception from Costner at a function they both attended (actually praising Costner for making an active decision not to bring it up). After having his own history with alcohol and rehab it didn't feel right to mock mental health or personal tragedy, and felt his position was to criticize those in power and not the easy targets. This culminated in a monologue where he affirms he won't be mocking antics going on around Britney Spears.
• Executive Meddling: A glaring example. In his Doctor Who tribute episode on November 16, 2010 (his main guest was Matt Smith), Craig planned a Cold Opening dance number where he would sing his own lyrics to the Doctor Who theme music while his back-up players and puppets dance around (one, Michael Clarke Duncan, a big African-American guy, even sporting a Tom Baker scarf). Five minutes before airtime, CBS received word that they couldn't use the theme music because they hadn't been able to clear the rights from the publishers. Here's the original cold opening, complete with Matt Smith cameo at the end. Here's the open they ended up using. It is sometimes said The BBC was responsible for this, but this is not true, as the rights to the theme music are held by a publisher, not the BBC (a similar licensing issue nearly resulted in the 1996 TV movie having to replace the theme music).
• Fan Community Nicknames: Craig himself uses "hobos" for his studio audience, and "robot skeleton army" for his Twitter followers.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: It's not out on DVD, but most (if not all) episodes since 2009 are floating around YouTube right now. Neither Craig or CBS really seem to mind, mainly since A) it gets Craig more international exposure, B) there's no annoying unskippable ads every few minutes, and C) there's no commercials period. Craig acknowledges this in the finale, saying his shows will always be around, out on (as he puts his hand to his mouth to self-censor) YouTube... before correcting himself (hand to his mouth again) and saying 'the CBS website'. The YouTube account Malinky2Stoatir is probably the most well-known uploader of Late Late Show episodes, and the Craig fans were hit hard in early 2010 when her account was pulled down by YouTube. She quickly returned with a new account called "TVsCraigFerguson" and continued uploading new episodes (along with classics from the old channel) until it was hacked, at which point she moved to TVsCraigFerguson2. While the show itself hasn't directly mentioned Malinky and her work, it's pretty obvious that they know about her: for one, she has a Twitter account, and one of her 5,000+ followers is none other than Craig himself.
• No Budget:
  • Craig has mentioned in several interviews that he can't do all the comedy bits he wants because the show's budget is extremely limited. Of course, being Craig he constantly picks on the minuscule budget during the show.
  • The only reason the show has multiple puppets is because they bought one and the producer was so happy they were on TV they sent several others.
  • He also points to the lack of budget as to why he doesn't have a house band, like other late-night shows. This was played with by a running gag in late-2013 involving "Alfredo Sauce and The Shy Fellas", a house band that was too shy to come out from behind the curtains (it was really Thompson doing voices mixed with stock big-band fanfares).
• The Other Darrin: Impersonator Josh Robert Thompson took over the role of Geoff from Craig after the character's first week on the show.
• The Other Marty: Thompson himself was replaced from November 7-21, 2011 due to unavailability. Many well known actors and personalities like Alfred Molina, Larry King, and Thomas Lennon (Who turned Geoff into Khloe Banderas) were used in his place. Lennon again replaced Thompson between November 28-30, 2011.
• Throw It In!:
  • On multiple occasions, the show has had some weird problems that got into the broadcast anyway. This is probably because even though it isn't broadcast live (no matter what Craig might claim), the show has a live audience.
  • Twice, the lights went out during a taping. They were also out at the beginning of this episode.
  • The main camera breaks after Craig gives it one hit too many.
  • Geoff Peterson's mouth and arms have stopped working more than once. They just kept on going, with Craig claiming that Geoff was communicating telepathically. In another memorable incident, Geoff's right hand popped out in the middle of a show.
  • In 2012 when Christina Applegate guested, someone in the audience shouted "I love you Kelly Bundy!" and got thrown out of the studio. Craig would eventually do an entire skit where he "interrogated" (in the style of a Simple Country Lawyer) the security guard in charge of throwing out the audience member.
• What Could Have Been: Michael Ian Black was one of the other finalists for the hosting job when Ferguson was hired. Black didn't have any hard feelings and has become a frequent guest.
  • David Letterman preferred Damien Fahey, until Peter Lassally recommended Ferguson.
  • The same Variety article that broke the news that Craig Kilborn was leaving immediately speculated that CBS could go after Conan O'Brien, as his then-current contract with NBC expired in December 2005. The move to using guest hosts as on-air auditions ended this, plus, a month after Kilborn quit, O'Brien signed the now-infamous contract that would give him The Tonight Show in 2009.
• Write What You Know: Craig Ferguson was an alcoholic through the 1980s, and only got into rehab on the good word of one of his comedian friends. Due to his first-hand experience with addiction, he won't make jokes about people showing signs of substance abuse. He will, however, gladly tell jokes about his own history of addiction.

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