Craig Ferguson: A 'Late Night' Revolutionist

[@smashedbread]

He was always my favorite late night host. It had no rules, it wasn't uptight, it wasn't orderly, It was pure chaos and pure joy and fun. I mean a horse would randomly come out and run around to music playing... How awesome is that!!

[@popeyJNNew]

I was a very late adopter of Craig's show. I got into it around 2011 and my god it blew my mind. Such a free show that encouraged the spontaneous and weird.... i absolutely loved every second of the show. I was really gutted when he stepped down but if i ever need a good laugh, i will KZbin clips from that show. Craig & Josh's timing together was masterful. :)

[@dianehorrell6107]

Oh, my. Thank you, Craig and Geoff (Josh) and all with the show. I loved you, still do, always will. The absolute best. Thank you for bringing laughter and genuineness and true talent to our lives. It truly was a great day in America when you were all here with us. Thank you.❤ Thank you, PopeyJN for this look back!

[@popeyJNNew]

Thank you for the kind words. Really glad you enjoyed this look back on a classic show.... truly one of the last great original pieces of media. :)

[@ti.ana_0165]

10 out of 10 for 'Angel never a god hahaha'. Exceptional job editing popey, and the continuation of this series that we've all been enjoying :)

[@popeyJNNew]

Glad you enjoyed it my friend. This one has been in the works for a wee while. Took a little longer and decided to let a lot of the clips speak for themselves. A very spontaneous show. :)

[@mandoleyva9163]

You never knew how the interviews were going to go That's what made it fun to watch. Not the usual same o same o banter. So many fun memories. The horse, the robot, the dancing after a proper joke, the fake CBS executive gag. And of course the guests

[@CerebralItchLabs]

Sorely missed. He was the most tragically underrated genius of late night television.

[@popeyJNNew]

1000% agree. Whenever I see videos of people ranking late night hosts, I feel his contribution to the format is often overlooked

[@Fee212]

I don't think he was underrated. Everyone rates him 100% THE best and funniest. He was unique and not like any other late night host. Or late night show for that matter. He was so much fun and really clever.

[@claytongellerman8787]

Fantastic job mate

[@popeyJNNew]

Thank you very much. Very glad you enjoyed this episode

[@Birdtoes]

I was just thinking yesterday how much I miss seeing him regularly. This is pretty wonderful ❤️👏❤️

[@popeyJNNew]

Thanks for stopping by the channel. Really glad you enjoyed the video. My memories of this show are so joyous, glad other people share my enthusiasm for it too. :)

[@gbilte]

Make something here that wasn’t here before is exactly what Craig did. He hit the perfect temple, the perfect comedy and the perfect amount of fun that he poked to the entire late night genre.

[@popeyJNNew]

@@gbilte it was such a unique and refreshing take on the late night format that I don't think will EVER be duplicated

[@Chalky.]

Didn't even know the show existed until a few years after it ended, but watching the clips on KZbin often had me laughing my arse off.

[@popeyJNNew]

Super glad a lot of people have found it over the last few years. Definitely one of my favorites to go back to for a laugh

[@SayAhh]

It was better than Carson.

[@normbeers]

A really enjoyable, informative piece on Craig's show. Thank you for all your efforts on it!

[@popeyJNNew]

Thank you for taking the time to give it a watch. I appreciate that

[@TomMSTie1138]

I never watched the Late Late show during it's original run, but I'm a recent convert thanks to KZbin compilations. Oh the joy I missed.

[@popeyJNNew]

I must admit, I was a late adopter of the show myself. Probably 2011, but once I found it, it was definitely a go to and every now and then I got back and enjoy some clips. Very unique show that's always good for a laugh. 👍 Thanks for stopping by and giving the video a watch and leaving a comment. I appreciate it

[@Blivot]

Me too! I turn on the Ferguson when I need to get away from tRump breaking news every 5 minutes!

[@popeyJNNew]

@@Blivot yeah, it's crazy how right after the show ended the whole political landscape changed. Always a good change of pace to turn on Craig's show and forget about all the crap happening in the world

[@Blivot]

@@popeyJNNew Agreed 1000000000%

[@faithinverity8523]

Is a longtime student of late night television I am ashamed to say that I never embraced Mr. Ferguson as I should have. In 2020 I started watching KZbin clips of his show. I now know that he is the greatest of all time. Thank you for this video. It added greatly to my understanding of his show.

[@JamesMMcCann]

I never knew anything about the show, but I stumbled onto his monologue about Britney (I found the clip a few years ago, it went out in I think maybe 2012?). It was the one where he talks about not making fun of her, and then he explained about his own 15 years of sobriety (to that point). I replayed that a lot when I was first getting sober, so Craig will always be in a special group for me. From there I started to watch his stuff online. He was also in an early episode of Red Dwarf.

[@popeyJNNew]

I remember that Britney Spears monologue very vividly and fondly. From my memory I think it was 2007 or 2008 when she was going through her major public meltdown. It was incredibly refreshing to see a late night host showing that level of compassion and just humanity. Whereas other hosts were openly mocking her for this breakdown, Craig saw the personal struggle and was quite touching that he took the stand that he did. Very glad you brought that up, haven't thought about that monologue for many years. :)

[@JamesMMcCann]

@@popeyJNNew he won me over with that monologue.

[@classiclife7204]

The King. Witness how much presence he has on the internet versus his viewership when he was actually on (as he said, he had a small but fanatical base). There's a popular compilation channel (guest-heavy), and another channel that is sedulously gathering together all of the full Late Late Shows (almost all of the post-Thompson ones are there; the earlier, pre-digital-TV shows are harder to come by). Craig and Conan O'Brien are the only late-night shows in the past 30 years worth talking about and watching, and 30 years is a long time. I really like what he said in that interview here about his original plan for a sidekick failing, and by failing, it became an unintended masterstroke. Because the Craig and Geoff dynamic - 2011-2014 - was the funniest thing on TV in any time-slot. The banter was better than any such that had come before, including Conan and Andy. That banter, in fact, is the best thing about the show. I think it can be persuasively argued that Craig - and to a lesser extent O'Brien - didn't revolutionize the format so much as kill it, creating something new, something where the guest's "latest project" wasn't really of major concern. I suspect a lot of publicists would grit their teeth whenever Craig's name came up. I remember when Carey Mulligan came on - they talked about a myriad of things until the end, when he finally remembered, "So that movie looks good. Stuff happens, I bet." (Mulligan just went, "Yup", and they moved on to the Big Cash Prize, lol.) Might explain why there were less "A-listers" on the show in the last 3 years, though those he was actually friendly with kept turning up. Anyway, cool survey!

[@Fee212]

Who else thought of introducing a robot? And Josh was so funny too.

[@popeyJNNew]

Perfect combination of comedic minds with Josh and Craig. Nothing else like it on television then or now A true original duo in the format

[@CraigShifflet]

Kind of an improvisational talk show. Especially, when Josh Robert Thompson voiced Geoff. Best way I could think to desribe it to someone that has never seen it. I still miss it.

[@popeyJNNew]

Very accurate. On the Joy podcast Josh recalled that Craig said "it was the purest form of improv" and that's a very accurate way to describe it

[@peterfedun-sk3jt]

I LOVED that show! I’ve never laughed so hard in my life. It was the best of its era, period.

[@popeyJNNew]

1000% agree with that. It holds a very dear place in my life

[@lizc.214]

Unfortunately, I watched his show sporadically when it originally aired, but I do remember always having a great time watching it. I'm so glad that I can catch up with practically all of the episodes here on YT! Around March 14 or 15, 2024, an article came out of him saying that he was in talks with a network to do another Late Night show, under his terms (not doing it every day, which was a major gripe of his with his previous show as it kept him away from his family a lot). It was just initial talks and he didn't know if it would come to fruition. I sincerely hope it does! A side note, I wish there was behind the scenes footage of him doing the puppet bits, especially of him and Trace Adkins doing the puppet show. Awesome video, subscribed!

[@popeyJNNew]

I started watching in 2011 and the show brought me so much joy. Craig and Josh were such a great late night duo. I hope Craig does another show and brings Josh back so they can banter again. I didn't actually hear about the pending talks. That makes me very happy to hear. I couldn't find any behind the scenes footage of them doing any of the puppet sketches... Would be great to see though. Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for subscribing, really appreciate that. 👍

[@alexeilindes7507]

My God was he a magical fellow at night.. it was so brilliant

[@popeyJNNew]

Strongly agree

[@ChaloempolKay]

The ferret picture cracks me up every time. It's almost a pavlovian response.

[@genakirby]

My absolute favorite late night host. I had/have such a crush on him

[@popeyJNNew]

It was such a unique show. One of my absolute favorites

[@GioMarron]

As a Scot, and someone who came from around 20 miles from where Craigie was born, I have always absolutely loved his work There are still evidence of his work on KZbin: The Ferguson Theiry A guest appearance on an early Red Dwarf episode 2000 not out As they were aimed at their times, the shows (except Red Dwarf as it was a comedy sci-fi whilst the others were more topical It still goes back to what made modern guys like , Kevin Brdges, Gary Meikle, Iain Connell, Danny Bhoy, Billy Connolly, Rab Florence, Jerry Sadowitz, Greg Hemphill Craig Ferguson or, going further back, greats like Stanley Baxter, Jack Milton, Lynn McGarry, Harry Lauder, Lex McLean, Chic Murray, Rikki Fulton and s many, many more in what is frankly a never ending list of being being funny in my accent, telling jokes about places I’d heard of, that I knew, that I’d been too. They were making jokes of things I’d seen, using words I understood, using slang and profanity as I did with my friends I don’t think many people can entirely relate to this, I’m sure. Their whole identity. Hidden under a blanket of someone else’s capital

[@popeyJNNew]

I appreciate you leaving this comment. Was actually really fascinating to hear what you were saying there and hear from someone who is Scottish themselves and how all those great peoples contributions actually helped paved the way for people such as yourself to have someone to identify with in all those ways you mentioned. Thank you so much for commenting

[@alexplorer]

You don't have to call him a "Revolutionist" to say he was the best. He didn't break anything; he just did it by his own rules. Every other host before and since have continued to use the standard playbook. Craig never seemed to follow a script, and the show was better when it went off the rails than when they followed the plan. I haven't seen any other host who could improvise a monologue or follow an intriguing line of questioning during an interview with little care for what was written down. Craig was simply so good at what he did that he didn't have to play it safe.

[@popeyJNNew]

Perfectly articulated. Such an out of the box thinking host who could have a genuine conversation instead of every moment feeling tightly scripted. A pure original in the format of late night

[@SayAhh]

Craig: "CBS cares."

[@popeyJNNew]

@@SayAhh "please buy the products advertised and never say f*** on television"

[@snuugumz]

I was charmed by Craig and his menagerie of racehorses and gay robot skeletons and my personal favourite, the tiny adorable bunny puppet with the mouth that could make longshoremen blush, but nothing, and I MEAN NOTHING could top any appearance by the hilariously odd and deliciously naughty Billy Connelly. Being birds of a feather and good friends made for a grand time. I do hope to hear Craig interview Billy on his JOY podcast one of these days! Thanks for putting this up!

[@popeyJNNew]

@@snuugumz appreciate you sharing your memories of the show and for the kind words. Really glad people have been connecting with this video, cause I absolutely loved that show when it was airing

[@davejensen7922]

Loved that show I used to watch it every night when I finished late shift and laugh myself stupid

[@popeyJNNew]

It was such a fun show to unwind with at the end of a long day.... and from all the interviews i've seen, seems like that was Craig & Josh's intention with it. Such a good show to go back and watch for a laugh still.

[@jefolson6989]

I discovered Craig jusyt before he left. Fun to catch up on youtube. Sorry i missed him at the time. He got away with things nonone else could . It was the accent

[@SuiGenerisAbbie]

Where are you from PopeyJN?

[@popeyJNNew]

Australia my friend. :)

[@SuiGenerisAbbie]

@@popeyJNNew Brilliant! Yank, here, Mate!

[@jimmuzzi1072]

Jimmy Fallon is horribly obsequious

[@derrickstorm6976]

Way to sound down to earth

[@danielwmwolf]

Never saw the show. Watch KZbin clips. I realize I did not miss anything. Just terrible

[@genakirby]

You sound fun.

[@popeyJNNew]

That's fair enough. When I initially saw it I felt the same, however the more I watched the more I appreciated how much it allowed me to watch something that didn't talk about politics or take itself too seriously.... But I understand why I may not be everyone's cup of tea

[@SuiGenerisAbbie]

@@genakirby😂😂😂😂😂

[@anilliteratejanitor]

You're literally the only person I have ever met that didn't like The Late Late Show; weird.

[@continentalrcinglg]

You sound like someone people happily avoid.