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Who Is in the Running to Replace Craig Ferguson at THE LATE LATE SHOW?

With Craig Ferguson’s departure from The Late Late Show set for the end of this year, there has immediately been plenty of discussion on who would replace him to be paired with Stephen Colbert taking over The Late Show. CBS has officially stated that they won’t announce any sort of replacement before their upfront presentation (presentation of a network’s upcoming programming schedule to potential advertisers) on May 14th.

However, the names Neil Patrick Harris, Aisha Tyler, Michael Ian Black, Jason Jones, John Hodgman, Joel McHale, and Amy Schumer have been “floated” around as potential replacements for Ferguson. Right now, the gig, much like when Ferguson got the job, is game for any of those names, and probably more that haven’t been as loudly rumored. Tyler and Black might have a little big of a leg up, as they tested for The Late Late Show a decade ago, but CBS has to also consider how any of one of them will fare at 12:35 AM following Stephen Colbert. They should probably compliment Colbert the way Ferguson did to David Letterman, which is hard to gauge since we don’t know what a late night talk show with the real Colbert will be like.

I personally don’t have an inside track on who might get the job or who else is in consideration (maybe Zach Galifianakis, if you remember Late World with Zach). However, I would guess, given that there is no clear frontrunner here, plenty of folks will be, at the very least, slightly displeased if CBS goes with yet another white middle-aged guy.

HT: The Hollywood Reporter

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Comments

  1. Tom says:

    Personally, I’d like to see Josh Robert Thompson move out from behind the robot and hot the show himself. He is so creative and funny, and has the young crowd for sure.

  2. Lucas says:

    No one can replace Craig, but the best choice of the bunch would be Joel McHale. So you heard it here first, it DEFINITELY won’t be Joel McHale.

  3. joabble says:

    Norm Macdonald. Duh.

  4. Jimmy Franco says:

    THE LATE LATE SHOW with TOM GREEN 2015

  5. Mark A Parsons says:

    WHO CARES ? ? ?

  6. XPatriate says:

    Some great names here…@zach – never even thought of Goldblum…he’d be incredible! @Rory – I’m a big Norm MacDonald fan, but I don’t think he’s “network” material, if you know what I mean.

    Aisha Tyler doesn’t thrill me, although she’s probably most capable among women mentioned. Wouldn’t mind either Ian Black or McHale. I’d be OK w/Hardwick in the chair. Whomever takes over, I hope they keep Geoff Peterson on as sidekick, unless he moves w/Craig to “Celebrity Name Game.”

    I’ve said before…would love to see Kevin Smith w/Jen Schwalbach at the podium.

  7. Kim says:

    Larry Wilmore gets my vote.

  8. Rob says:

    How about Tosh? Or Aziz?

  9. Dan says:

    I don’t think Aisha Tyler will leave her three shows (The Talk, Archer and Whose Line). I’d LOVE to see Joel McHale do it. He’d be a fantastic replacement. He was a lot of experience doing monologues and he could pick up the craft easily. I don’t think The Soup or Community will last forever, so he’d be great competition for the Jimmy’s, Conan, Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert.

  10. garagesale says:

    How about another Brit? Simon Amstell would be great, turn the time slot into a panel show.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L0bo6CTVgI

  11. Jason says:

    Borrowing from my cousin- Craig Kilborn, Craig Ferguson… Craig Robinson.

  12. Brent says:

    Gorburger!!!

  13. Not Craig Kilborn says:

    Bring back Craig Kilborn

  14. keel says:

    Yes, john barrowman.

    or Amy Schumer.

  15. Kerbrider says:

    Daniel tosh would be great.
    He would need to reign in the false bigotry but he’d be hilarious.

  16. ThisGuyRightHere says:

    John Barrowman. America NEEDS more John Barrowman.

  17. Andrea Aka Fred says:

    I’m liking a lot of the names thrown out here!
    I love Michael Ian Black, Doug Benson would be absolutely fugging hilarious to watch on a talk show, and I will watch anything that PFT puts out.
    As far as a lady taking over The Late Late Show, I actually like the sound of Aisha, Amy, or Sarah. They’re all hilarious women who would definitely bring their own flavor to the show.

    Another thing I saw that I would love is the “regeneration” of Craig at the end… though a classic turning off the lights on an empty set woudl be great, too.

    Also, of course a Chris Hardwick after show for Late Night would work. The title? Talking Back. He’ll discuss what just happened on The Late Show, but in reverse order 😛

  18. g. bravender says:

    Some great names thrown out there I’m a fan of most.Drew Carey actually did a pretty good job and no-one else has suggested it. Hell he’s gotta be tired of TPIR by now .He’d be great!

  19. Andrew Cooke says:

    Whoever it is, I just hope Craig “dies” on the last episode of his run and regenerates into the new host.

  20. Ken says:

    I would love to see Sarah Silverman get the show. I know her comedy is not for everyone but I think she is great and would certainly have people talking.

  21. IMDBag says:

    No love for Jimmy Pardo?

  22. Pr1m3 says:

    Anyone that keeps it “Not like any other late night show”

  23. ADAM says:

    Tom Green …. his AXS show kicks butt.,,, funny guy and knows how to interview.

  24. Jay Ubi says:

    It has to be a Whovian…..It must be… Colbert’s a Ringer so….

  25. Rene says:

    Who is producing the hour? Will it still be World Wide Pants? If so, I think the Joel McHale or Michael Ian Black should definitely be on the short list. I always get the vibe that Letterman really likes those two. If Pants isn’t involved then it’s up for grabs.

  26. Nienna says:

    Considering Chelea Handler has already quit her show, and has had secretive meetings with CBS, my guess is that it will be her. I’m not complaining either. Sure she’s a bit crass, but I love her show. I would especially love an hour long roundtable with 3 other comedians!!!!

  27. grace says:

    Aisha is amazing! Smart, engaging, & a great interviewer. She’s already working within CBS, sounds like a smart move.

  28. Bob says:

    PFT would be amazing. Get Eban Schletter to be his band leader and only “talk” with his piano. Paul could do his stream of conscience thing for a monologue instead of the usual set of tepid topical jokes. He could do some songs and sketches. Basically, do a live version of the Pod F Tompkast. Who could possibly think that is a bad idea.

    I know it would be another middle aged white guy but come on, awesome is still awesome.

  29. Joan says:

    at that very last part…. shut up. it doesnt matter if he’s not white and middle aged, it depends on the charisma of him.

  30. Mike says:

    I thought Paul f. Tompkins would be great.

  31. Adam Harmon says:

    Doug Benson… duh.

  32. Kurono says:

    Please not Aisha Tyler. From her times hosting the Ubisoft events af E3 and Who’s line, I’m really not a fan of her.

  33. adales says:

    Aisha Tyler would be pretty good as a talk show host. It would also be nice if they would hire a woman, as long as it isn’t the painfully unfunny Chelsea Handler.

  34. Jason says:

    Ian Black is the only credible name on this list as he was close to getting the job instead of Craig. Everyone else are people that would never anchor their career to a 5 night a week show Or like Tyler and Hdogeman aren’t known by John Q public

  35. Jadedk says:

    Might be nice to have a woman helm a late night network show. Just spitballing here.

  36. RG says:

    @Eric: I don’t think Ferguson had any experience with guests at first either… and Felicia Day would be a massive WTF for most of the country.

  37. Melissa says:

    Ha! I love it…

    Talking Later… where he spends an hour talking about what JUST happened on Colbert’s Late Show…

    Yeah… I’d watch that…

    😀

  38. Jen says:

    I would REALLY dig some Aisha Tyler!

  39. Eric says:

    Chris Hardwicke would be GREAT (though we’d hate to lose him as both The Nerdist and the Talking Dead)

  40. Ezequiel says:

    I’d love for it to be Joel Mchale but i don’t think he’d leave the soup but you never know Colbert is leaving The Colbert report so anything can happen

  41. Bucky says:

    I’ll do it. I do five shows daily and my audience loves me.

  42. Eric says:

    I’d like to see a woman do it, actually (I am still a HUGE Craig fan).

    But none listed have experience with _guests_. It is, after all, a talk show.

    How about Felicia Day?

  43. Chad says:

    Beau,
    Would this new version with Hardwick be a Colbert after show?
    Late Talking?

  44. Jason says:

    Paul F. Tompkins.

    It needs to be Paul F. Tompkins.

  45. Beau Ryan says:

    Hardwick, obviously.