'The Late Late Show' Seeking New Host (Bush-hater leaves CBS Show)

CNN/AP ^ | 11-05-04

[sully777]

NEW YORK (AP) - Actors Craig Ferguson and Michael Ian Black, comedian D.L. Hughley and MTV host Damien Fahey [were] invited...for one-week tryouts as host of the CBS late-night talk show...searching for a replacement for Craig Kilborn....Kilborn left at the end of August...catching the network by surprise.

[sully777]

Greg Kilborn was the original host of Comedy Central's (owned by Viacom) The Daily Show. He came up with a segment called Five Questions in which he asked five random questions to the people he interviewed. Kilborn took this "groundbreaking comedy idea" with him to CBS (Viacom) The Late Late Show.

Greg Kilborn left Viacom's Daily Show for Viacom's Late Late Show to replace Greg Kinnear. Kilborn suggested in a pre-2000 Elections monologue that Texas Gov. George W. Bush be assassinated. However, since no one watched his program his comments were totally ignored by everyone except the Secret Service.

Greg Kilborn had a bit part in the movie Old School in which he stretched his acting talents to play a scumbag. He leaves the Late Late Show a has-been that never was.

[Jenya]

Did Kilborn catch heat from the Secret Service for his assassination remarks?

[nikos1121]

Another mediocrity bites the dust...

nick

[Darkwolf377]

Somehow I missed the shockwaves that followed the departure of this broadcasting giant.

[newgeezer]

I think maybe you have your Craigs and/or Gregs mixed up. (But, in the end, who gives a flying flip? ;O)

[dead]

Greg Kilborn had a bit part in the movie Old School in which he stretched his acting talents to play a scumbag.

Great movie!

Killborn’s stiff performance was only redeemed by the thoroughly enjoyable violent death of his character.

Freed one up to look forward to a sequel.

[Stellar Dendrite]

Kilborn is a douchebag!

[Mr. Jazzy]

If not, then the Secret Service is playing favorites and not doing it's job.

Remember the couple that were taken into custody for just yelling at Clinton that he should leave office and waving signs?

[VaBthang4]

If I am ot mistaken, Kilborn was first a Broadcaster for ESPN.

[Good.V.Evil]

Another one bites the dust !

[GoldwaterCountry]

Yes, Kilborn was from espn. I believe most of the people at espn are libs. Geez, you can't even watch sports to get away from liberal bias.

[InsensitiveConservative]

Kilborn who? It appears I didn't miss much.

[sully777]

The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
Guest: Greg Proops (Overtly homosexual comic seen on Drew Carey's Who's Line Is It?)

Transcript off internet from Late Late Show

Thank you very much. Gotta go quickly, I've got Icy-Hot in my shorts, ladies and gentlemen. So we finally got a new President, huh? And, uh, now you know how Italy feels every year. You realize that if this went down in another country, we would be invading them right now? To install a democracy? Course, everyone wanted George W. Bush to be President, right? Everybody. His dad, his mom, his brother, the Supreme Court--everybody but the majority of people who voted. And I, uh, I never understood what W's platform was, you know? (nerdy voice) "My dad was President, so I get to be!" Hold on a moment, Ankhneton. This isn't ancient Egypt, okay? We don't ascend to the throne here. There's that little formality of a rigged election to go through. W's a compassionate conservative, yeah. That's like being a caring fascist. And to prove how compassionate he is, he's appointed John Ashcroft as Attorney General. Yeah. John Ashcroft lost an election to the dead guy in Missouri. So, the people of Missouri were presented with a choice: (looks to his left) dead guy--(looks to his right)--I'm gonna go with the dead guy this time. Seems more human. I think we're afraid of the wrong people in this country. We're afraid of what John Ashcroft would call, 'young urban males.' And I don't know why, they're all in jail. (reacts to audience) Ohhhh--that is so--true. I'm a little bit more afraid of middle-aged white guys who are divorced and recently lost their job. They seem to have an 'anger management problem.' Speaking of anger management, uh, as long as we've got Charlton Heston to sort everything out with guns, everything's gonna be okay. Because Charlton Heston brings that irrefutable logic to the gun argument, y'know? (rubs his neck, goes into quite good Heston impression) "Of course the people were harmed by guns but my God, if a flying wombat harmed a small child you wouldn't ban marsupials from taking to the air--" (breaks off, raises his eyebrows in amazement) What the hell are you talking about? You are confusing me, Moses. No, I blame Gore for the whole thing. Because he distanced himself from Clinton. He forgot that Clinton was popular and won two elections, you know? Because Clinton's a sexy rock star, right? He has sex, he gets impeached (Clinton impression) "I'm back! Who's with me?" He's like Dracula, nothing can kill him, you know? And now he's got the best job in the world, right? Ex-President. Check it out. In six months he'll have gained fifty pounds, he'll be walking around with a Dixie beer, you know? (Clinton impression) "I'm writing a book." Gore should have embraced Clinton, man. Gore should have been all over Clinton like white on rice, like a remora on a shark. He should have had his head sutured to Clinton's body, like Ray Milland and Rosie Grier in The Incredible Two-headed Transplant, so that they were never seen apart. Never mind Monica doing Bill, Al should have done Bill. The Democratic National Convention. He should have been down there on the floor, going, "Look what I got. A winner." (laughs) This was the, uh--This had to be the closest election of all, right? And totally divided the country. You saw that map, right? There's all that red (gestures), and then the blue (makes two coastal lines with his hands). You know? Clearly blue is where they think and chat. And red is kind of where the redneck, peckerwood, bohunk, heehaw, gun-toting, psycho-Christian, anti-choice, homophobic, Tim McVeigh rally, militia hate group website, dog in the back, gimme cap sporting, gun-toting, huge belt buckle with your name on it that you wear upside down so you can go, "Damn, that's mah name!" kind of place. Thanks a lot. (air-kisses the camera, mouths, "I love you, Jennifer.")

[sully777]

Death Threats Carried on Air Could Mean Demise of Broadcast Licenses, FCC Official Warns

Free speech advocates worry that FCC's position is a 'stretch'

WASHINGTON
U.S. broadcasters must keep death threats -- whether serious or made in jest -- off the air, or face possible revocation of their licenses, Federal Communications Commission regulator Gloria Tristani warned last week.

Tristani's admonishment follows two recent on-air death threats, one made in jest by a CBS television show against presidential candidate George W. Bush, the other made against vice-presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman on radio shock-jock Howard Stern's program.

Following the CBS parody, which featured a picture of Bush captioned with "Snipers Wanted," Tristani said her office had been barraged with complaints from viewers outraged by what she called the "irresponsible" broadcast.

In the wake of the parody gone awry, which appeared on "The Late Late Show with Greg Kilborn," CBS issued repeated apologies for airing the "inappropriate and regrettable" graphic, the Reuters news agency reported.

Such apologies may not be sufficient, Tristani warned, saying that broadcasters are obligated to steer far clear of any messages that implicitly endorse violence "against those with different opinions."

Viewers believe "violence suggested on television too easily and too often becomes violence accepted," Tristani told APBnews.com.

"Calls for voluntary codes of conduct are changing to calls for enforceable regulatory standards," Tristani wrote in a letter to CBS following the incident.

But some free-speech advocates say the Commission is overzealous. Paul McMasters, First Amendment ombudsman for the Freedom Forum, told APBNews.com that, "to presume that either CBS or the Howard Stern show, or any of these others, are soliciting violence against an elected official or encouraging violence in general is an awfully big stretch."

Sources: APBnews.com, Aug. 22 -- Reuters/Variety, Aug. 22 -- Reuters, Aug. 21 -- New York Times, Aug. 16.For more information, see: Related Newsline story, July 3 -- Related Newsline story, May 15 -- Related Newsline story, Mar. 22, 1999 -- FCC Commissioner Tristani's letter to CBS.

Copyright © 1995-2001 the Institute for Global Ethics, Camden, Maine 04843

[Allosaurs_r_us]

all I can say is...........WHO?

[RonDog]

NEW YORK (AP) - Actors Craig Ferguson and Michael Ian Black, comedian D.L. Hughley and MTV host Damien Fahey [were] invited...for one-week tryouts as host of the CBS late-night talk show...searching for a replacement for Craig Kilborn....

Here are a few SHORT EXCERPTS about the new "Late, Late Show" host Craig Ferguson, from www.washingtonpost.com:

Late Night Raises The Burr
CBS's Craig Ferguson Brings Brit Wit -- and a Spot of Tea -- to the Table

By Hank Stuever
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 14, 2005; Page C01

LOS ANGELES

Craig Ferguson is sitting in his tidy office at CBS's Television City several hours before the taping of his nightly show (or "the shoo," as he calls it), talking about growing up in the small town of Cumbernald, just outside Glasgow, Scotland...

-- snip --

...you might want to use your fake Scottish accent (and you know you've got one) for the quotes where Ferguson talks. Just do it in your worst burr; think Groundskeeper Willie on "The Simpsons," James "Scotty" Doohan from "Star Trek" or Mike Myers as Fat Bastard. Such is the American pop gamut of Scots, until now....

-- snip --

...Ferguson's show already gives off light beams of jolliness, even as you get the feeling that it's possibly a happy train wreck. In an age of snark, it's almost too retro: A good-looking man walks out, has an accent, tells some jokes, makes chitchat, introduces a band, and nobody gets hurt.

Desperate actresses especially adore him. Witness the parade of fabulously coiffed and giddy B-minusers who've done "The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson" since its debut Jan. 3 -- Jennifer Beals, Mimi Rogers, Jennifer Love Hewitt...

-- snip --

Dunaway is on to promote "Starlet," the new reality show she's appearing on, but also she is here, she will later reveal, because she's been staying up late, too, with the rest of a certain demographic: People who, perhaps through a fog of Tylenol PM, have developed a teensy, weird crush on Ferguson.

The show has become very Los Angeles in a local sense, in both vibe and casual conversation -- as if West Hollywood had gained a cable-access channel. Ferguson talks about his ex-wife (they are friendly; she runs a Pilates center and lives two doors from his house, and went with him to Clive Davis's Grammy party) and his 4-year-old son, Milo (he shares custody). Watching the shoo feels like you've bumped into him at the Farmers' Market Starbucks off Fairfax Avenue...

-- snip --

...He addresses viewers at home as "my lovelies" or, better, calls them "cheeky wee monkeys" and does a regular bit where he pours himself a cup of tea from a proper silver tea set, inviting the audience to ask questions. The show leaps at you -- at 12:35 a.m., an ungodly hour for anyone past their Jesus year, age 33 -- with a jaunty, Electric Light Orchestra-ish theme song...

-- snip --

...Ferguson's ratings are up just slightly from Kilborn's a year ago, to about 1.9 million viewers, and still somewhat below "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" on NBC, which draws 2.5 million. There are odd little pops in Ferguson's first demographic returns -- men over 54, for example, are watching in greater numbers, and so are women that age. (With other spikes in younger female cheeky monkey departments.) Yes, this is just another man in a tailored suit and expensive necktie sitting at a desk with a fake window view of twinkling lights behind him, in a post-post-post-post-Carson era. But it's also some elusive other thing, a lark: "This is a show that's being born on the air," Ferguson says. "There were no trial shows -- this is it, so the comedy is honest-to-goodness birth pains."

CBS really just threw this man on the air, with only two auditions and a few weeks' notice -- a man viewers knew only from his role as Nigel Wick, the unctuous boss on "The Drew Carey Show..."

[F16Fighter]

"Greg Kilborn had a bit part in the movie Old School in which he stretched his acting talents to play a scumbag."

HEH!

[RonDog]

From www.cbs.com/latenight/latelate/bio:

Craig Ferguson enters the world of late night comedy following a diverse and eclectic career that encompasses film, television and the stage. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Ferguson got his start in the entertainment industry as a drummer for some of the worst punk bands in the U.K., a profession he held for several years. Following his musical stint, he began bartending in a local pub in Glasgow where he was introduced to Michael Boyd, the artistic director of The Tron Theatre in Glasgow, who persuaded the Ferguson to give acting a go. After several low paying acting gigs, Ferguson discovered he had a knack for comedy and was soon the star of his own BBC television show, The Ferguson Theory. After several stints on the English comedy circuit, Ferguson brought his act to America in 1995 to star with Betty White and Marie Osmond in the short-lived ABC comedy Maybe This Time. After the show ended, ABC decided to add the talented Scotsman to The Drew Carey Show, playing Drew Carey's boss, Nigel Wick, from 1996-2003...

[Tall_Texan]

Surprised they haven't called Bill Maher.

[RonDog]

...He addresses viewers at home as "my lovelies" or, better, calls them "cheeky wee monkeys" and does a regular bit where he pours himself a cup of tea from a proper silver tea set, inviting the audience to ask questions.

From www.cbs.com/latenight/latelate/comedy:

A Cup of Tea and A Chat Craig's got a look at Dr. Phil's interview with Pat O'Brien -- plus, a big surprise for one lucky audience member.