Last night’s Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson was a Doctor Who festival. Random, you say? I’m sorry — have you never seen The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson? Do you not realize that this talk show thrives on pursuing the wayward enthusiasms of its host, which include, in no particular order, awkward pauses, high heels, refusing to allow guests to merely plug whatever TV show or movie they are promoting, and lip-synching to campy ’70s and ’80s pop songs.
Oh, and it turns out, Doctor Who. Interviewing the current doctor, Matt Smith, Ferguson had to explain that this was the 11th Who, that the character has been “played by 11 different people, kind of like Cher…made of the parts of 11 different people.” Smith, however, looked like an unreconstructed human.
The Who-centric hour was quite comprehensible even to non-Who fanatics such as myself, and I was amused to hear from Smith that the tall British drink of water was filming part of the Who series in Monument Valley, Utah — the site of many John Ford Westerns, to mix pop culture genres. (Boy, John Wayne in a TARDIS — there’s a visual.)
By the way, Ferguson was a bit irritated that the semi-elaborate opening number, choreographed to the Doctor Who theme, was squelched five minutes before taping (according to Craig) due to lack of legal clearance for the music.
But, he concluded, “At least you get to see another human experience crushing disappointment, not like those other TV shows, where the host comes out and says, ‘Hey, my life is great with all my buddies and stuff and money!’”
Freeze-frame high-five!
Did you watch?
Twitter: @kentucker
Nooo, tell me they will show this on tv again. I had no ides Matt Smith would be on a US late night sow. Ugh. My Doctor Who hearts are bleeding.
*idea
*show
Obviously I can’t spell.
The episode are usually available within a week on cbs.com.
From a fellow whovenian
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=49BF496E93C42174
Go to http://www.youtube.com/user/TVsCraigFerguson and watch. CHEERS!
You tube tvs Craig ferguson channel. Usually up the next day. It’s Craigy heaven there!!
Thanks, Ken! Loved the show so much, ready for the sequel! BTW, for anyone who missed it, the interwebs will have it for you.
good lord Craig is a fantastic interviewer…
actual conversation, no cliched “tell me about your latest project so i can pretend to care”
Hear, hear! I just love him.
This was hilarious
Just finished watching…it was like nerd heaven for me…Craig, Chris and Matt + Darlek? Exterminate me now, my life is complete!
It was amazing! I was at the taping and saw the rehearsal footage of the cold intro with the dancing and the puppets. So funny – I hope it’s online somewhere soon.
That is available as a clip on the cbs show site
No it’s not. The part where Craig, surrounded by the other actors in the number, berates his producers for the screw up is there. But the musical number itself is not.
It was fabulous. With all the hints about the internet, I’m hoping the special dance will air somewhere. I wonder if the show even did that deliberately – to get traffic to the internet.
If so – excellent and smart idea.
That was the most horrible interview I have ever seen the guest barely got a word in. Which is a shame because he is such a great guy!
Guess you’ve never really watched Craigy Ferg before then, have you. He doesn’t “do interviews”, he has actual conversations with his guests.
One word: Kvelling.
I loved the show! I’d never seen Dr. Who – but I’ve been watching it all day on BBCA! I thought Matt Smith was adorable and Craig was fun and kooky. I really want to see that intro.
Ken, you are absolutely the last motherlover who should be making comments on other people’s looks. Check out a mirror sometime.
I don’t see anyplace in the article where Ken critics the looks of anyone….unless you mean that Smith is an ‘unreconstructed human”. That means he looks normal. LOL.
That was really funny, but what’s up with the horse?
Secretariat? Only the greatest thing ever! Just watch Craig dance in the background when the horse comes out and tell me that’s not the most hilarious thing you’ve ever seen.
It’s Secretariat……it’s been a running gag since the movie came out.
Ah, I see. Thanks.
My only complaint is why BBC is doing an American roll-out now? It’s been back on the air now for five years and was a huge success before Matt Smith and The Moff were handed the reins. Geez, they wouldn’t even let David Tennant appear at Comic Con until after he left the show. Naming Karen Gillan, the current companion, the sexiest of them all to me almost felt like they were intentionally ignoring the Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant years. Seriously – has Craig Ferguson and Chris Hardwicke ever seen Billy Piper or Freema Agyeman?
You should read the article again. They are filming in Utah for the sixth series.
RE: Panic Moon…
There is more to “Doctor Who” than what’s been on since 2005… so your complaint should extend much further back. For example, have you seen the first actress that played Romana (there were two)? I think her name is Mary Tamm, she’s smokin’ hot too.
But about them naming Karen Gillan the hottest… it’s all about personal taste, to them she apparently is the sexiest and that’s fine.
Um, Craig is Scottish. Karen Gillan is Scottish. Yes, Amy Pond is attractive, but I think we were seeing Craig’s love of Scotland in his choice.
Craig Ferguson has probably seen every episode of Dr. Who several times, he is a uber fan of the show, along with Mythbusters, who built Geoffrey the skeleton robot from him. He has been trying to do this show for a long time. He isn’t the usual talk show host, he is an entertainer with a talk show. He tears up the cards he is given from the pre-interview and then has a conversation with the people. His show is fun and unscripted. There are running jokes that go on for awhile, then a new one will start, right now it is Secretariat. Craig tells it like it is, including his feelings about network standards and pushes the envelope to edge of getting into trouble including how many bleeped curse words he is allowed per show.
Stars come on his show just to see him, even when they have nothing to promote. He brings people out of the audience for his intro and other skits, many become semi-regulars on the show during the opening or the email segment.
He used to do more skits but now spends the time on emails and guests. I miss his Prince Charles, Murder She Wrote and Aquaman skits.
You will not see the same interviews that the stars have done on all of the other talk shows, you may actually hear something different, if not at least you will laugh your arse off.
He is a very intelligent guy with a wicked sense of humor. Where else can you see puppets that have to be bleeped on network TV, love the rabbit.
I couldn’t agree more! I don’t think that I will EVER get over the fact that Tennant was NEVER on The Late Late Show. I’ve gotta say that seeing those two talking would have made my DECADE!!
….or John Barrowman?
Indeed!
Yeeeeummmmmmm! John Barrowman.
I love Craig and I love the Doctor. I’m searching the interwebs for the opening as I type.
Go tp the actual show site on cbs.com. There is a clip of the opening on there
I meant the original dance opening.
I’m hoping to find the cancelled opening too. Go Craig!