Line #32 YMMV/TheLateLateShowWithCraigFerguson


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2	* AwardSnub: Over nearly two decades and multiple hosts, the show has received exactly one Emmy nomination: Craig Ferguson as best variety show performer in 2006.[[note]]He lost to Music/BarryManilow. Craig later won multiple Daytime Emmys for his hosting work on ''Series/CelebrityNameGame''.[[/note]] But he won a Peabody Award in 2010 for his interview with Desmond Tutu.
3	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
4	** Any of his lip-synching openings — ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4phHwSSing Istanbul]]'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwqhw1tnKhM Wonderful Night]]'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULW2h_TK2Ik Say Hey (I Love You)]]'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ToDnU3xcl4 White Lines]]'', and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwkK5-ibYcw Look Out, There's a Monster Coming]]''.
5	** In one of the more obscure references he's ever made, the theme from ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsjj-_NB3es Fireball XL5]]''.
6	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9P4SxtphJ4 Craig's version]] of the ''Series/DoctorWho'' theme, which took a while before it actually aired on ''The Late Late Show'' itself and got leaked to Website/YouTube in the meantime.
7	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvAPov24d4Q&feature=channel&list=UL The opening to the week in Scotland]]. Yes, that is actually Craig himself signing. And yes, that is Steve Jones of the Music/SexPistols on guitar.
8	** Billy Connolly proved to be the first guest on the show to actually know how to play a harmonica (which every guest gets an opportunity to play at the end of their segment). Of course, Craig was prepared for such a day, awarding Billy with a ''golden mouth organ'' for his efforts.
9	** David Pogue became the second Golden Mouth Organ recipient in the coda of his interview, immediately after [[ObfuscatingStupidity pretending to have no clue what he was doing]].
10	** As did the aforementioned Wilford Brimley.
11	** And to wrap up his tenure, Craig pulled out [[https://youtu.be/tggLZnB3Wn0 all the stops]], complete with cameos from many good friends. The song itself ("Bang Your Drums" by Dead Man Fall [[note]]Within 24 hours of the episode, the song, by an unknown Scottish band, became the top selling song on iTunes.[[/note]]) starts with the studio version, before cutting to Craig, with two drummers, Steve Jones again, more musicians, belting out an epic live version.
12	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
13	** Occurs every so often when-(''[[StockSoundEffects ding-dong!]]'') "Hey, who's that at the door? (''checks door'') [[HappyDance IT'S SECRETARIAT!!!]]"
14	** Craig had Wilford Brimley on the show only because he thought he'd seen the retired actor getting salad at his local grocery store. Brimley openly stated in the interview that even he didn't know why he was there, since he didn't have anything to promote.
15	* ContinuityLockOut: Not as bad as most examples, but it can sometimes occur due to the loads of running gags and minor characters who can disappear and reappear at anytime.
16	* CultClassic: Inasmuch as a talk show can achieve this status.
17	** Craig's love of smut, nerdy references and improvising was too niche to find mainstream success like Jay Leno did, but he won a devoted following, from internet geeks to fellow comedians to some of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood. [[Series/ThePriceIsRight Bob Barker]] even made it a point to stop by when he retired.
18	** Craig's strong cult following has both solidified with time ''and'' remained as niche as ever -- these days, when people list their top late-night hosts, he's either forgotten about entirely or he's at/near the top of the list. Meanwhile, his show is a leading candidate for the most archived late-night talk show on Youtube.
19	* EnsembleDarkHorse:
20	** Secretariat.
21	** The hand puppets. Most notably, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaFy_BkiuoE Wavey, the Waving Crocodile]] (''[[CatchPhrase "Whattado, everybody!"]]''), and Sid the Cussing Rabbit.
22	* FriendlyFandoms: Craig's fandom overlapping with Music/BritneySpears' fandom may seem unlikely on paper, but thanks to Craig's famous monologue where he openly refused to make fun of Britney during her public meltdown in 2007, Britney fans have had utmost respect for Craig ever since.
23	* GeniusBonus:
24	** Not many late-night talk shows throw in jokes about Søren Kierkegaard or Gustave Flaubert. Even fewer do so while maintaining a full quota of [[LowestCommonDenominator poop and fart jokes]]. And probably none except Craig can do both within [[SophisticatedAsHell the same joke]].
25	--->'''Craig:''' I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "Craig, wasn't [[Creator/FriedrichNietzsche Nietzsche]] the father of Existentialism?" Well, he might be. Others say the father of Existentialism was [Jean-Paul] Sartre, perhaps even [Arthur] Schopenhauer. There's only one way to find out — all three of them should go on ''[[Series/{{Maury}} The Maury Povich Show]]'' and take the [[DaddyDNATest paternity test]].
26	** September 2, 2011: Craig and Geoff manage to build a running gag out of the phrase [[IcarusAllusion "careful, Icarus."]]
27	** Ferguson went on a spree with these in his last few weeks as host. Geoff had a copy of UsefulNotes/CarlJung's ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Book_%28Jung%29 Red Book]]'' on his podium, and Craig noted how his new haircut made him look like Creator/SamuelBeckett, quoted [[UsefulNotes/{{Existentialism}} Jean-Paul Sartre]], and delivered a TakeThat to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Rothko Mark Rothko]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Duchamp Marcel Duchamp]].
28	* GrowingTheBeard:
29	** In the first year or so, Craig gradually discarded the typical written jokes in his monologue in favor of more improvising. This is where the silly, smutty Craig Ferguson that everyone remembers began to emerge.
30	** If any one moment really made Craig Ferguson stand out from the pack, it was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGLzpt3caHw his 2007 monologue]] on the public breakdown of Music/BritneySpears, where he makes plain his refusal to mock someone going through serious mental health struggles and/or addiction issues in public (both subjects very near and dear to his heart). This helped give Craig a depth unlike other late night hosts, and with Britney's ensuing troubles with her conservatorship now public knowledge, it's also HeartwarmingInHindsight.
31	** Geoff Peterson became much funnier and more interactive with Craig after Josh Robert Thompson began voicing him live in lieu of Geoff's original batch of canned responses. More specifically, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAHSUTB5BJc segment]] where he started the "I've got a place there" {{running gag}} and made Craig totally lose it marked the point where Geoff really began to shine.
32	* HarsherInHindsight: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqJZ5DmfbgQ The interview with]] Music/DemiLovato in December 2013. Craig and Demi bonding over finding sobriety was nice at the time, but became extremely bittersweet when Demi nearly died after relapsing in 2018.
33	* HoYay: Pretty much Geoff's raison d'etre.
34	* {{Moe}}: Hilariously the audience seems to consider ''Secretariat'' to be this, judging by how everyone always freaks out whenever Craig mocks him. Craig even lampshades the weirdness of this.
35	-->'''Craig:''' It's not a real horse!
36	* RetroactiveRecognition: Beth, the "CBS executive" who acted as the show's censor to varying results, was played by Dana [=DeLorenzo=], years before she became better known for her role as Kelly in ''Series/AshVsEvilDead''.
37	* TearJerker:
38	** The pulling of Craig's Batman-themed monologue after the shootings in Aurora, Colorado resulted in a sobering monologue from Craig's desk in its place, in an empty studio. When Craig gets serious, it's ''really'' disarming.
39	** The monologues on both his mother's and father's deaths.
40	** The very last ''"Ladies and gentlemen, Craig Ferguson!"'' and the subsequent longest ovation in the history of the show.
41	* VindicatedByHistory: A minor example, but although Craig's run on ''The Late Late Show'' wasn't the biggest ratings sensation - part of its charm was that it felt like late night's best-kept secret - it's only become more and more acclaimed with time. James Corden, however you think of him as host, never quite had Craig's ramshackle, iconoclastic style, which many fans and critics missed after Craig left. Thanks to fans on Youtube archiving clips of the show to ''staggering'' levels, the fanbase has only increased in the ensuing years.

Context YMMV / TheLateLateShowWithCraigFerguson