Geoff Peterson: "Yeah babe!"

Craig seems to like bringing pretty girls up for the cold open

Geoff Peterson: "Enjoy all the products advertised."



Craig Ferguson: "What time is it Geoff?"
Geoff Peterson: "May I suggest tweets?"
Craig Ferguson: "You may!"
Geoff Peterson: "Love it!"
Craig Ferguson: "Yes we do!"



The way Craig interacts with the audience is genius. I was when he was talking about Julia Roberts and her teeth. I loved when he was reading the tweets and e-mails and he read one from someone who's from Germany who asked what she should bring on her trip and he said tanks and the audience reaction was great and Craig made it brilliant by standing up and ranting about how Woody Allen jokes are ok but not Julia Roberts jokes and Nazi jokes.

The Angela Kinsey interview was great! Damn, she was lookin real good too!

Craig and Geoff is pure comedy gold.

Anyone here know how Craig tapes? I mean I know that Letterman does 2 shows on one day and one of them gets shifted to Friday (usually the one that has the "lesser" guests).

I had gotten a FB notice that a band that I like was to perform last night and today they wrote on their FB page, "Sorry we thought it would air today, but it will air on 5/24."

Is he taping people like Ellen now? Like a week in advance or doing more than one show on multiple days so that he can have a show to air on a different date? I love Craig, but I like to think (at least most of the time) that it's a show from earlier in the day that plays at late night.

Not something he does where he's taping all kinds of shows and then is sitting at home for a couple of weeks until they air. Going from a 5/12 date of airing for this band to 5/24 means they did their show and it won't be aired for 12 days after they did the show. Is he doing whole shows like that? Is he taping bands to "attach" to the end of other shows? If so, does he wear the same suit and tie that night?

I just found that weird. Taping someone for a skit is one thing, but this seems entirely odd. Anyone know? Thanks.

It's been that way for quite some time with The Late Late Show. Their website used to list the guests that would be taping each day, so that if you wanted to attend you'd know what was going on in advance. If that information is still available, I haven't been able to find it. I think this is done mostly to accommodate his touring schedule now that he's gotten back to doing stand-up, as well the schedules of his guests. Someone on a press tour can tape his show the same day as another late night show in L.A., but not have to worry about the appearances airing the same night...freeing that person to move on to New York or somewhere else.

And band performances have frequently been shifted around. I don't know if it's to make sure they mix the sound right (to account for any audio issues in that studio) or what the deal is, but I regularly see tweets from artists who tape that show one date, and their performance airs like, two weeks later.

If Craig needs to tour a lot because CBS doesn't pay him what he deserves, then fine, but I don't like this if it's something that's going to be standard. There's something about it being topical and that what you see is what was taped earlier in the day that seems pretty important for late night.

What Ellen or Oprah do doesn't really concern me, I just know they tape a lot in advance.

He jokes about this constantly on his show. He doesn't even try to pretend that they film a new show, every day.

It seems that they do one show per day, for the most part, but pre-record some skits, interviews, and bands.

I don't think the pay is nearly as bad as he jokes, and I don't think money's the reason he's gone back to touring. I think he just genuinely enjoys it, especially in light of having become an American citizen. There's got to be a certain appeal to him about visiting different cities as an American that I think is hard for most of us to appreciate.

As a rule, I think you can tell which episodes are pre-taped by the monologue; if he's not talking about something in that day's news, chances are it was pre-taped. I think it works for his style, though, not to always be topical. If I want jokes about that day's headlines, there's no shortage of alternatives. I've found myself entertained more often than not by his own personal ruminations than potshots at embarrassed celebrities and scandalous politicians.

I don't know what you people are talking about. Craig does his show live every night. He told me so!

If you think this is new, you haven't been watching the show. It's not that unusual to see a guest from 2 weeks ago show up to help with the e-mails wearing the exact same outfit. The cut & paste slapped together nature rarely hurts the show. It can add to the comedy & I like the subtle surrealism. I will say that last night's show was clearly sequential - & it was the better for it because the comedy kept building & referring to earlier jokes.

Didn't Craig recently say that the studio was so small that they sometimes had to move the set when a band played? I can't remember the last time I saw him interact with a musical performer. I sometimes wonder if he is there for the performance - or if there is even an audience. Those intros could easily be done later.

They always have to move the set. The desk pretty much fills up the stage. During the cold open, he's usually in front of his desk, and during the monologue, he's in front of an empty stage. If you pay attention, you'll catch glimpses of the desk pushed off to the side of the stage. The desk and chairs are on a rolling platform.

When he has comedians on, they usually put the desk at an angle to make room for the comedian.

I rarely see an entire episode. I catch what I can, when I can, so a lot of this is news to me. I heard him joking with Lisa Kudrow about her clothes being the same and I was totally confused.

Not only is it on late, but I still live in a metro area where he's not even on right after Letterman. They re-run the news after Letterman and then go to The Late Late Show.

I think he's the funniest and usually the best interviewer, but I still don't like the idea of a LOT of his stuff getting pre-taped and airing up to 10 days or more later. That's just my opinion, though, and certainly not meant to be an insult to anyone else who enjoys the show the way that it is.

I think Kudrow did 2 shows in the same week because one of the scheduled guests wasn't able to make it.

You can tell when the interview is taped on a dif day, since craig will often mention the date in an obvious way or something about his tie.

Just finished reading Craig's book from the library -- a great read!

I believe Letterman's Friday shows are taped on Monday. Watch a Friday monologue--the jokes are general and not about what happened that day in the news.

They do a great job of bringing it all together to make fluid episodes. I can tell you that tonight's show was taped at 3pm today and at 5pm today he taped segments (if not an entire show) with Dennis Quaid and Alice Eve. And tomorrow he's taping a show with Jon Favreau. But tomorrow's show is listed as Amanda Seyfried and Isabel Allende... so at the very least those guests are pre-taped.

I remember seeing two Lauren Graham segments weeks apart where she's in the same outfit continuing the same conversation... so it must be a combination of his predilection toward letting good guests stay double segments, taping in advance to get extra days off, and having to work around the schedules of big guests (i.e. they probably let Scarlett Johansson come in and tape her appearance any time she wanted. ).

All I know is whoever threads it all together is very impressive. The whole thing seems pretty mind-boggling.

I remember back when Craig first started hosting The Late Late Show the musical guest would be playing their song and sometimes the camera would show the desk and he wouldn't be sitting there. If I remember correctly I don't think I heard a studio audience applauding before the song started or when it ended. I think I read somewhere that the musical guests perform before the studio audience comes in.

Geoff Peterson: "I smell Emmy!"

Geoff Peterson: "I think you should start to wrap it up."
Craig Ferguson: "I'll wrap you up you skinny bastard!"
Geoff Peterson: "Yeah babe!"

Also for anyone interested, the episode he did with Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu (for which he won the peabody for) airs on monday

Which one? Between the Bridge and the River or American on Purpose? I enjoyed the latter...but I loved the former.

Loved the RDJ interview
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And the ending was great too
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^That was a great interview. They play off each other really well. Loved the awkward pause.

American on Purpose

I think we need an appreciation thread for his wife...