The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson - Show Format

Show Format

The show starts with a cold open which consists of a short monologue, at times acting with one of his hand puppets, interacting with a member of the studio audience, or occasionally a pre-taped bit; this is followed by the opening credits and a commercial break.

Following the break and his introduction, Ferguson begins with "Welcome to Los Angeles, California, welcome to the Late Late Show, I am your host, TV's Craig Ferguson"; this is soon followed by "It's a great day for America, everybody!" and a free-form, largely ad-libbed monologue. After another commercial break, Ferguson is seated behind his desk, where he usually reads and responds to viewer e-mail and (since February 2010) Tweets; during this segment he occasionally will have a guest star with him. He calls his Twitter followers his "robot skeleton army."

Generally one or two celebrities are interviewed; Ferguson starts each by dramatically ripping up note cards written for the interview, "signalling to the audience, and to the guest, that this conversation need not be rigidly managed." Sometimes a stand-up comedian or a musical guest performs, the latter of which is typically pre-taped.

Ferguson has many running gags. These have included themed weeks such as "Crab Week", "Magic Week" and "Shark Week", "Dear Aquaman" (in which Ferguson dresses as the superhero and gives advice), a "photo of Paul McCartney" joke (wherein Ferguson will call for a photo of McCartney, which is actually a photo of actress Angela Lansbury and vice versa); the show often uses variations of this gag featuring other pairs of look-alike celebrities, such as Cher being shown as Marilyn Manson.

The show ends with "What Did We Learn on the Show Tonight, Craig?", a segment that starts with an animation of a kitten and in which Ferguson "removes his tie, puts his feet on his desk, and summarizes the preceding hour of TV."