Craig Ferguson isn't wasting any time in moving in for the kill against his new late-night competition Jimmy Fallon. Though Fallon is expected to draw a mostly male audience to his "Late Night" franchise, which begins a week from Monday on NBC, and Ferguson has built his base with 30- and 40-something women viewers, the guest lineup for March 2-6 strongly suggests that CBS wants to ensure that not a single member of the Ferguson core even thinks about straying over to Fallonland.
On Monday, March 2, Ferguson welcomes Paris Hilton. Now, whatever you think about Paris Hilton, she's a draw, especially for women. And when you consider she's going up against Robert De Niro -- who is not my idea of an interesting talk-show guest, I'm sorry to say -- and it's Monday night, often the biggest night of the week for CBS (with "CSI Miami" leading into late news), Ferguson should do very well. His second guest, Dee Dee Myers, just wrote a book about women running the world; say no more. (Fallon's second guest: Van Morrison.)
On Tuesday, March 3, Fallon's guests will be Tina Fey, Jon Bon Jovi, and musical guest Santigold. Craig's countering with Kristin Davis and Wolfgang Puck. Advantage Fallon.
Wednesday looks fascinating: While Fallon jokes with Cameron Diaz and Billy Crudup, Ferguson is going to have what I already predict will be one of the most literate late-night dialogues of 2009 when he welcome Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu to his show.
Thursday on Fallon: Donald Trump, Serena Williams, and musical guest Ludacris. On Ferguson: Holly Hunter, music by Andrew Bird. To each their own, eh?
Finally, the first week of head-to-head competition ends with Drew Barrymore and Mario Batali on Fallon against Amy Adams, Ed McMahon and music by M. Ward on Ferguson.
I would say Ferguson has a couple of opportunities there to blunt the raised interest in NBC by bringing some solid guests of his own. Ultimately, though, these shows are about their hosts, and Ferguson has already shown he is a force to be reckoned with. Absent a fantastic effort from Fallon, with CBS and NBC already in a tie for audience and NBC enjoying only a slight demographic edge, I think the week of March 2 might be the last that Ferguson loses to Fallon for quite some time.
Does anyone actually tune into Craig Ferguson for the guests, though? I must admit that I'm not a regular viewer, but when I do watch, it seems like there are a good 30-35 minutes of Craig, Craig and nothing but Craig before the first guest comes out. Which is kind of too bad, since he's a good interviewer and when I do watch, I often find myself wishing he'd spend a little more time with his guests than mugging for the camera, reading email and doing skits. (The monologue is usually great, though.)
Posted by: Sue T. | February 22, 2009 at 06:40 PM
craig is the show though sometimes the guests are icing on the haggis.
craig ferguson...
making something from nothing since 2004.
Posted by: cathy | February 22, 2009 at 06:47 PM
Craig Ferguson Is more entertaining when he is improvising. If he wants to keep his audience he has to stop the puppet garbage. He is an intelligent entertainer and the puppets and bad skits are free moments for viewers to flip over to Fallon. With tvo and dvrs people will be able to watch both.
Posted by: Jen McIntyre | February 23, 2009 at 06:24 PM
I will definitely be tuning in to Craig's show to see Amy Adams
Posted by: Daniel | February 24, 2009 at 01:06 AM
I'd watch the guests on Fallon over Craig's the first two nights, except for one thing: Jimmy Fallon is painfully unfunny. Seriously, it's beyond me how the guy landed either this or his SNL gig.
Posted by: Byron Johnson | February 27, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Fallon's shallow and not very bright AND he's got the curse of Plastic Leno (yawn...) What happens when he runs out of friends to invite on the show?
Craig Ferguson is the funniest man on late-nite tv. Long live warmth, humor, honesty, vulnerabilty and that adorable monkey! I love the puppets -- a nod to the history of vaudeville and theatre.
Posted by: Libby | March 03, 2009 at 08:53 AM
Craig's show is the only TV show that I watch - period. And I rarely miss it. He is wonderfully real, so quick, funny and charming. His guests really seem to enjoy talking to him. He is a breath of fresh air on network TV!
And I'm pro puppets - especially the monkey and the yodelers!
Posted by: Rose | March 04, 2009 at 08:57 PM
The Tutu interview was terrific. Craig's C & D list guests were often more entertaining than the A list guests Conan got the night after Letterman had them, & that won't change. I also predict that The Roots will get tired of playing second banana & laughing on cue for Fallon, as happened with Branford Marsalis with Leno.
Posted by: bob | March 05, 2009 at 04:29 AM
Although I was tempted to tune into Jimmy - because I do like him [certainly more than Conan!] - haven't done it and Craig's been great this week. The Holly Hunter interview was particularly quirky. I am pro puppets and would like to see them back, at least occasionally.
Posted by: Steve | March 06, 2009 at 11:16 AM