Nowadays late night shows are extremely diverse. Some of them are quite different, some of them are alike. Among the most popular late night shows in the USA are the late show with David Letterman and the late show with Craig Ferguson.
Craig Ferguson's show is called "The Late Late Show". It is very popular now and the host of the show is not the last reason for its popularity. Craig Ferguson is a Scottish actor. When he speaks about the beginning of his work on the show, he says he realized he was an actor, a writer, a director, and a producer. But he claims he never really did understand why he became the host. Craig Ferguson had never thought about hosting. But, he says, during the first time he hosted, he immediately came to the conclusion that he wanted to do nothing but that.
At the time, CBS was looking for a host in one of the most popular late night shows, which Kilborn left. As Ferguson confesses he wanted the job badly. Though he often called the producers of the show, they kept on only talking to him. In Hollywood you are lucky if you are treated like that. Several other people had tried to host the show. Among them were Tom Snyder, Marie Osmond, Betty White and others. However, the producers chose Ferguson.
When the producers are asked why they chose Ferguson, they answer that they were impressed by his wonderful combination of wordiness and cheekiness.
At first, it was obvious that one of the problems with Ferguson was going to be his accent. The producers concluded, before long, that the audience is sophisticated enough to understand a person with an accent. They said that they have lived in an international pop-culture and an accent was not a barrier. One of Ferguson's advantages was that he could speak both on humorous and rather serious topics.
Kilborn left the show in order to start his career in the cinema. As
for Ferguson, he started his career not with late night shows but with
movies. He played in such films as "Saving Grace", "The Big Tease", and "I'll Be There". He even had a role in "Lemony Snicket" with Jim Carrey. While comparing Kilborn and Ferguson, producers often say that Kilborn was a very humorous person but he lacked words to convey his humor. As for Ferguson - he's extremely talkative.
Very often, before the taping one of his late night shows, Craig Ferguson sits in his office at CBS and talks about his childhood in Scotland. He says they lived very poorly. They even didn't have a carpet. Once his father and he gathered some carpet remnants from the shipyard and made a carpet for their house. After that their neighbors came to their house just to see that carpet. They were the first family in their neighborhood who possessed a wall-to-wall carpet.
Craig Ferguson really does have a strong accent. But most people like listening to the way the man talks. They say that while smiling and laughing Kilbert was not very sincere. As for Ferguson, he's much more open and frank.
While watching the late show with Craig Ferguson people get the feeling of joy and comfort. But it is worthy of note that the show does not have any special peculiarities. It is rather common. A good-looking man, but not young, comes out, makes jokes and introduces his guest. Everything is simple - but so popular.