Without a Host to Call Its Own, CBS’ “Late Late Show” is Must-See TV – Ed Martin

For all the fuss last year about the current round of musical chairs among CBSamp8217 late night talk shows amp8211 Ferguson is gone Letterman is leaving Corden is on deck Colbert is coming amp8211 surprisingly little attention is being paid to something the network is doing right now amp8230 keeping amp8220The Late Late Showamp8221 alive during the approximately three month gap between Craig Fergusonamp8217s departure and James Cordenamp8217s arrival on March 23 with special guest hosts typically sitting in for two or three days eachThis week has featured a twonight stint by Regis Philbin a man with more experience hosting talk shows than most and another concluding tonight by actress and comedienne Whitney Cummings How long has it been since we have seen a woman behind the desk of any late night broadcast talk show except for that one edition of NBCamp8217s amp8220The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonamp8221 in which he insisted that guest Barbra Streisand in her first appearance on amp8220Tonightamp8221 in a halfcentury do the honors She did but Fallon perched on the chair next to the desk still conducted the interviewActor Adam Pally sits in on Friday Next week actor Sean Hayes is scheduled to take over the show MondayWednesday with musician John Mayer filling out the week on Thursday and Friday I have no idea how well he will conduct himself as an interviewer but having a musical superstar of Mayeramp8217s stature on board for two nights leading up to the networkamp8217s telecast of the Grammy Awards on Feb 8 seems like a shrewd moveDrew Carey started it all the week of January 5 which was more than appropriate since he is a longestablished CBS personality he has been the host of amp8220The Price is Rightamp8221 since 2007 and Ferguson was part of the supporting cast of Careyamp8217s longrunning ABC sitcom In the final moments of Fergusonamp8217s final night on amp8220Late Lateamp8221 amp8211 and in tribute to the legendary final episode of amp8220Newhartamp8221 the best series finale of any television series ever amp8211 Ferguson and Carey awoke in bed together as their characters from Careyamp8217s sitcom with Ferguson shaken up by a long dream about being a latenight talk show hostOthers personalities have also stepped in of late on amp8220Late Lateamp8221 including the ladies of CBSamp8217 entertaining afternoon talk show amp8220The Talkamp8221 pictured below Give CBS credit for knowing how to maximize its talent and aggressively maintain that family feeling Now letamp8217s get a star of amp8220The Young and the Restlessamp8221 or amp8220The Bold and the Beautifulamp8221 into that chair How about Eileen Davidson She has plenty of free timeI realize this amp8220Late Lateamp8221 freeforall is just a strategy calculated to fill a hole between hosts but at the very least it represents the most dramatic experimentation any broadcast network has done with its precious late night talk show real estate in longer than I can remember I suspect that no talk show especially one in late night could survive long term without at least one permanent personality at its center but there is something to be said for keeping things fresh perhaps with a rotating roster of hosts who may or may not include one or more women people of color or LGBT personalities along with the standard issue middleaged straight white male so cherished by late night executivesAnyway it was an older straight white male two of them actually who brought amp8220Late Lateamp8221 to my attention earlier this week on Tuesday to be specific Regis Philbin and David Letterman pictured at top Philbin was concluding his twonight gig and Letterman an executive producer of amp8220Late Lateamp8221 was his first guest that night accompanied by his longtime bandleader Paul Schaeffer Watching Letterman be interviewed rather than doing the interviewing is always interesting but what really grabbed me about the show was that it was taped in New York City in the somewhat cold and cavernous amp8220CBS This Morningamp8221 studio with guests seated around that giant clear table with the CBS eye in the middle rather than the usual amp8220Late Lateamp8221 studio in Los AngelesAt first I was impressed by the fact that Philbin and Letterman and Schaeffer were engaged in an actual adult conversation that spanned two full segments The grownup conversation continued with Philbinamp8217s other guests including Donald Trump who mused for the umpteenth time about considering a run for the presidency and Charlie Rose who was right at home at that table for obvious reasons Admittedly the hour skewed a bit old at least until the band Counting Crows showed up to end it on a musical noteBut as I watched I started to wonder Why hasnamp8217t a network tried a bicoastal latenight talk show What better way to mix things up and keep viewers interested than by moving back and forth between New York City and Los Angeles Wouldnamp8217t that represent a bold attempt at something new by a broadcast network at a time when all broadcasters continue to fight the assertion that everything about the amp8220broadcast modelamp8221 is old and outdatedI think thatamp8217s a very good idea amp8211 almost as good as the one Philbin suggested to Letterman Once Dave is finished with his amp8220Late Showamp8221 duties Reege said he ought to shift from fivenightaweek status to a onceweekly program amp8220Sunday Night with David Lettermanamp8221amp8220Itamp8217s perfect for youamp8221 Philbin declaredamp8220Iamp8217ll wait for that callamp8221 Letterman chuckledEd Martin is the Editor of Planet Ed and MediaBizBloggers and the television and video critic for amp160MyersBizNet Follow him on Twitter at PlanetEdCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates at MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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Without a Host to Call Its Own, CBS’ “Late Late Show” is Must-See TV – Ed Martin

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