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Craig Ferguson (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter NCCommish
- Start date
Encyclopedia Brown
Footballguy
I agree.
He's hilarious.
And I read something that is really impressive: he doesn't read scripted jokes from a TelePrompter during his monologue. He outlines a few topics before going on-air but it's all improv when he's live.
He kills with Betty White, too. Her bits rock.
He's hilarious.
And I read something that is really impressive: he doesn't read scripted jokes from a TelePrompter during his monologue. He outlines a few topics before going on-air but it's all improv when he's live.
He kills with Betty White, too. Her bits rock.
NCCommish
Footballguy
Rattlesnake mug rocks.
NCCommish
Footballguy
I didn't know that. He is very funny. And I love the weird places his interviews go.
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
I'm a huuuge Letterman fan and think he's the most important person in TV history (he invented the brand of sarcasm so common today), but i've never enjoyed talkshows from beginning to end the way i do Ferguson's. His teasers after Letterman (with the puppets & music pantomimes) are the best two minutes on television. I have preordered his autobiography "American on Purpose", which will be the 1st celebrity book ive read since John Huston's 25 yrs ago.
NCCommish
Footballguy
Yeah I remember Letterman in the old days. We used to rush home from the swing shift when I was in the military and we would all be in the day room watching Letterman. But I think Dave stayed too long. And yeah the teasers are awesome. The whole show is just very watchable and funny.
NCCommish
Footballguy
The interviews just seem very off the cuff. You know usually everything is worked out so the celebrity can tell some story and then plug and on to the next. But he asks questions that you can tell the celebs aren't always ready for. It's great TV.
A
awesomeness
Guest
I keep hearing how he's really funny, but everytime i try to watch it i can't even last til the interviews. The one time i did was when he had muppets and was singing a song, that was good. But every other time i tried to watch his show, i find his monologue/email shtick/and sketches are painfully unfunny and end up changing the channel.
NCCommish
Footballguy
I find his slightly acidic sarcasm hilarious. But then I have loved that kind of UK humor since I watched it as a kid on PBS.There was this comic that did an interview and sketch show who was Scottish that was on PBS and that's who Craig reminds me of. He would sit there with a cigarette and a drink and do jokes between bits. All I can remember right now is his first name. Dave something? Anyone remember this?
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wikkidpissah
Footballguy
I can see young people who havent been with Dave from the beginning not liking him, but this surprises me. Letterman's career is the world's longest joke, the point being to continue telling it til he's too old to remember the punchline. I've been a fan since he "hosted" a summer-replacement series starring....wait for it....buffering....buffering.....The Starland Vocal Band. The regular-season variety shows useta let their slot in summer be taken by tryout variety shows & SVB's one hit got them their turn. The only reason I watched this putrid exercise was that a client, Helen Schneider (who would only come to be known to the general public as the backup singer on "Eddie & the Cruisers") had just signed a record deal on the same label - Windsong, John Denver's vanity label - as SVB, and Helen was very interested in the possiblity of following the same track into TV. So, we were the only non-relatives in the country to build a party around watching the 1st episode, i'm sure. There was this tall, goofy guy with a gap in his teeth who kept running in & out of camera, making jokes about John Denver. At the end, however, there's a segment where this guy answers the viewer mail. An absurd concept, cuz this is the premiere episode. Just enough to file this guy away & i've followed his progress ever since. (In an odd coincidence, the backing band on Helen's 1st album were the guys - Shafer, Hiram Bullock, Steve Jordan - who were the original band on the Letterman show).And that's the secret & magic of Dave - he hasnt never pushed out the end of the envelope but has been tampering with their seams so long that he has gone thru far more envelopes than the most radical acts. The joke is ongoing. He would like to eschew with many of the features he's developed in his lifelong quest to cannibalize the medium that's made him famous, but the suits wont let him. I would have liked to see the present-day result if he hadnt half given up when he didnt get the Tonight Show & cooperated with CBS's meddling in order to beat Jay (who fairly well taught him standup). But I'm not one of those who think the original of anything was best just cuz I remember it & you dont - I think the five years after his bypass were the best period of work in his career. He may be a little settled now (a famously miserable man, his son has changed that), but I still thrill to watch him nudge comedy along on the path to its inevitable destruction & still enjoy being in on the joke. nufced
Encyclopedia Brown
Footballguy
For some reason I never got into "The Drew Carey Show".
I have seen a few episodes here and there, but not enough to gauge an opinion.
I've heard that Ferguson was very funny.
Anyone else seen the show, and can confirm?
I have seen a few episodes here and there, but not enough to gauge an opinion.
I've heard that Ferguson was very funny.
Anyone else seen the show, and can confirm?
Das Boot
Footballguy
Dave Allen.We used to call the PBS lineup British Humor Night when I was in HS: Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Dave Allen.
Das Boot
Footballguy
I actually watched the Starland Vocal band variety show... all 4 or 6 episodes of it... there weren't many as I recall.I did not know or remember that Letterman had been on it though. I also watched most of the first few years of Letterman, Late Night dove tailed perfectly with my college years.I can barely stand to watch it now though... his and the show's innovation is gone, his edginess is gone, he seems much more bitter and jaded now. His shows now just seem cookie cutter.Those first few years were golden though.
Encyclopedia Brown
Footballguy
Remember his missing finger?Dave Allen.We used to call the PBS lineup British Humor Night when I was in HS: Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Dave Allen.
NCCommish
Footballguy
Yep thanks. My best friend in high school and I would watch all those shows. Good times.Dave Allen.We used to call the PBS lineup British Humor Night when I was in HS: Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Dave Allen.
NCCommish
Footballguy
Oh yesRemember his missing finger?Dave Allen.We used to call the PBS lineup British Humor Night when I was in HS: Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Dave Allen.
NCCommish
Footballguy
I appreciate the answer. I have watched Dave for over 25 years. I just feel like he has gotten so comfortable that most nights it seems mailed in. The top 10 used to be scathingly funny, now I'm lucky to get chuckle. IMO he just no longer brings it on a regular basis. Johnny knew when to step away.
NCCommish
Footballguy
Yeah he was very good on it.
trader jake
Footballguy
Sorry to say the bolded part is false. I attended a filming of the show two years ago and he did the monologue from the teleprompter. I was sitting dead center, front row and some tech guy had a small screen I could read ahead of Ferguson telling the joke. Once or twice he went slightly off track but, in general, he was reading the thing verbatim.I'm not a big late night TV watcher but Ferguson is entertaining. Got tickets to the filming because I've never been to a show taping and the Sex Pistols were the musical guest! It was a Halloween show and Joe Theismann was also a guest.
Mjolnirs
Footballguy
I usually try and record Ferguson every night. He is by far the funnies of all the late night shows.
His interviews are great, but he could do shows without interview guests and do skits and I would watch.
The Rather Late Program
When Connery met Sally
His interviews are great, but he could do shows without interview guests and do skits and I would watch.
The Rather Late Program
When Connery met Sally
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
He should be on TBS so they can actually be funny.
NCCommish
Footballguy
Yeah I could watch him do his shtick and be very happy. Good clips.
badmojo1006
Footballguy
His book, "American on Purpose" is laugh out loud funny the first chapter. When he talks about meeting President and Mrs. Bush and describes her underwear, I was 
It is as funny after that, but a good read about his life
It is as funny after that, but a good read about his life
Mjolnirs
Footballguy
I've read this as well. Good insight into his crazy past.His book, "American on Purpose" is laugh out loud funny the first chapter. When he talks about meeting President and Mrs. Bush and describes her underwear, I wasIt is as funny after that, but a good read about his life
The show he did immediately after the death of his father was the most original, powerful, and engrossing thing I've ever seen on any talk show. It covered the entire show, but here is a small taste:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJWlNPq0ftM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJWlNPq0ftM
SaintsInDome2006
Footballguy
Probably will take off when Letterman leaves, even in his late night spot, glad he's not moving.
Loan Sharks
Not a Wolf
I was a die hard Drew Carey fan and then became a big Ferguson fan back then. The best part of Craig apart from his comedy is that he is a genuinely super nice guy.
packersfan
Footballguy
There were a lot of people who thought Johnny stayed too long as well. It's the nature of the beast. Doing something for over 30 years like Dave has done, it's impossible to do it the same way in your 60s that you did it in your 30s (the "golden" years of Letterman in my opinion). Dave's life has changed and his approach has changed as well. He's still the only late-night host I watch with any regularity. Like Johnny in the final years, he's more of an institution than anything else. I don't think there's anything wrong with that personally.
As far as Ferguson, I think he can be very funny but I don't watch him on a nightly basis. I like that he's trying to do the show in a different way than everyone else. I think that sets him apart. Then it all comes down to whether you think he's funny or not. For me, I think he can be but he's nowhere near Dave's class in my opinion or Conan, who I think is the second-best latenight host working and has been pretty much consistently since he took over for Letterman at NBC.
Eephus
Footballguy
His novel wasn't entirely successful but was still a worthwhile read. It's probably the best novel written by a current network late night talk show host, although I haven't read Fallon's yet.
