LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- During an exclusive interview on AXS TV'S TOM GREEN LIVE with host Tom Green, Norm Macdonald revealed that after his firing from "Saturday Night Live" he found out he was also rejected as the host of "The Late Late Show," a job Macdonald never even knew he was up for. Macdonald said that Rob Burnett, executive producer of "The Late Show With David Letterman," told him that David Letterman fought to have him host the show, but Les Moonves, CBS Corp. president and CEO, preferred Craig Kilborn instead.

Watch Macdonald relive this surprising moment here: bit.ly/1gnCow1

During the lively interview, Green also asked Macdonald about his comedic fixation on death and why he discusses it so much in his stand-up. Macdonald responded, going into depth about his comedy and explained how inspiration from his friend the late Sam Kinison brought his jokes from dogs to death.

Another candidate for the time slot is “Celebrity Name Game,” a new syndicated pop-culture game show hosted by Craig Ferguson. Produced by Courteney Cox and David Arquette, and based on the board game Identity Crisis, the show was picked up by Tribune Broadcasting stations nationwide.

Cynthia Littleton
Editor-in-chief: TV
@Variety_Cynthia
Craig Ferguson is in final negotiations with Tribune Media to host a daily syndicated half-hour talkshow that would air in the 7 p.m. hour across Tribune Broadcasting’s 42 stations.

The show is targeted to bow in the fall of 2015. It’s expected that Michael Naidus, exec producer of CBS’ “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” will be on board as showrunner of the show which will blend comedy and talkshow elements. The intent is to rev up the hour leading into primetime with the Ferguson yakker paired at 7:30 p.m. with a prime sitcom rerun, a la “Two and a Half Men” or “The Big Bang Theory.”

Reps for Tribune Media and Ferguson declined to comment.

Tribune is in talks with distributors to handle national distribution of the show beyond its stations, which reach some 42% of U.S. TV households and cover key top markets including New York (WPIX), L.A. (KTLA) and Chicago (WGN). Tribune’s muscle with first-run syndie fare expanded last year when it doubled its station holdings with the $2.7 billion acquisition of the Local TV station group.

The Ferguson deal marks the first syndicated show of its kind developed for the access time period — the hour leading into primetime, or 7 p.m. PT/ET and 6 p.m. CT/MT — in years. Tribune took a shot at fielding the first latenight syndie yakker in years this past season with the return of Arsenio Hall. That show didn’t go the distance beyond one season. The hope is that Ferguson will bring an established fan base to a time period with far less talk/variety/comedy competition.

SEE ALSO: Craig Ferguson: ‘I Wanted to Leave the Show While I Was Still Enjoying It’

Clearances in access time periods may be hard to come by outside of Tribune markets. The established players are pretty well-entrenched: think “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy,” “Entertainment Tonight” and “The Insider,” “Extra” and “Access Hollywood.” But with local stations facing a drought of strong new sitcoms to program in the access hour, more stations that don’t have any of the first-run stalwarts may be open to a new entrant.

Among the distribs in the mix to handle national sales of the show is said to be Debmar-Mercury, which is already in business with Ferguson and Tribune on the syndie game show “Celebrity Name Game,” which will bow next month. “Name Game” is widely cleared on Tribune stations, and could be paired in the 7:30 p.m. slot with the new yakker if the show clicks in its first season.

The Tribune deal answers the question of what Ferguson planned to do next after announcing in April his plan to step down from the “Late Late Show” in December. Ferguson’s decision to move on after 10 years in the 12:35 a.m. slot behind David Letterman came as part of an unprecedented generational shakeup in latenight that started with the Jay Leno-Jimmy Fallon “Tonight Show” handoff last February. Letterman is poised to sign off next year after 30-plus years in latenight.

Specifics about Ferguson’s new show are still sketchy, but it’s expected to have a slot for guests and to be a showcase for the offbeat humor that has made Ferguson distinct among the latenight pack. On “Late Late Show,” Ferguson’s sidekick is a robot skeleton named Geoff who is dressed up as if headed for a “Price is Right” taping (a joke inspired by the fact that the two shows are taped on the same lot), and Ferguson also has regular visits with Secretariat, aka two people inside a horse costume.

For Ferguson, the shift to syndication will require some tailoring of his unique brand of yucks for a broader audience in an earlier time period and in a 30-minute format vs. an hour for “Late Late Show.” For Tribune, the move to recruit a marquee name is a sign that the company, under the leadership of network and cable programming vet Peter Liguori, is intent on using its formidable reach to be a bigger player and to shake up the conventions of local station programming outside of primetime.