Craig Kilborn: Back on Comedy Central?

Update: Breaking news! Craig has a new show in the works. (posted May 5, 2010)

Ever since this blog was born, Talk Show News has wanted to write about Craig Kilborn. What the heck happened to the guy? He seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth since giving up "The Late Late Show" in 2004. A check of his IMDB profile shows no credits after 2007, and that was for a supporting role in a straight-to-DVD teen comedy called "Full of It."

All efforts to track down Kilby's whereabouts were unsuccessful, though, so there was no point in writing a post. Until today. Now, please note that this is just the merest wisp of news. Still, it's something.

In the inbox this morning was a request from Comedy Central to take a short survey about its programming. After clicking through, there were a bunch of questions about "Krod Mandoon" (nope, haven't watched, don't plan to). And then, finally, came this:

One last thing, could you see Craig Kilborn back on Comedy Central, or is it the worst idea since Kate talked Jon into unprotected sex?
Please select one response only.

That's a great idea, he's awesome!
I don't care, as long as the show's funny.
If Craig's in it, the show would have to be especially funny for me to watch.
No way, he sucks!
I've never heard of Craig Kilborn.

So somebody at Comedy Central is obviously thinking about bringing former "Daily Show" host Kilby back into the fold. Further updates if we get 'em. Meanwhile, if anybody knows anything, please post a comment or e-mail talk (at) interbridge.com.

Follow-up, posted Sept. 29, 2009: Sorry, it looks like Craig has retired.

Jimmy Kimmel: Game Night guests and comedy

Here's the schedule so far for the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Game Night specials. They will air before the NBA game in Eastern and Central time zones from 8:00-8:31 PM ET, and after the NBA game in Mountain and Pacific time zones.

June 4:

1. Will Ferrell 2. Grammy Award winner Eminem teaches Jimmy to rap

June 7:

1. Actor Denzel Washington 2. “The Teammating Game” comedy segment with NBA players Dahntay Jones and Chris “Birdman” Andersen (Denver Nuggets) versus Amar’e Stoudemire and Grant Hill (Phoenix Suns)

June 9:

Guests TBA

June 11:

1. Jack Black and Michael Cera

June 14 (if necessary):

Guests TBA

Jay Leno: Premiere date for 10 PM show set

Disappointed by Conan O'Brien taking over "The Tonight Show"? A lot of Jay Leno fans may just never be able to warm up to Conesy. And now they can circle this date on their calendars: Sept. 14. That's the day when "The Jay Leno Show" will debut at 10 PM on NBC.

Says NBC's press release: "'The Jay Leno Show' will be the first-ever entertainment program to be stripped across primetime on broadcast network television and will showcase many of the features that have made Leno America’s late-night leader for more than a dozen years."

Just 104 days, 10 hours and 34 minutes to go.

Conan O'Brien: But what did the fans think?

We've told you what some of the nation's TV writers thought about Conan's "Tonight Show" debut, but what about the people who will be watching night after night?

Here's a handful of reactions from the message boards at Television Without Pity and EW.com:

"I hate the new studio. It seems too big and cold."

"Color me very very pleased with Conan's first show. It revisited enough of the old Conan while still showing us that this is a different show and a new beginning."

"Conan will do fine, but I don't think I'll be choosing him over Dave anytime soon. For now, I'm just glad that Dave's rival is someone that I don't despise."

"Conan is obviously not to everyone's taste; he certainly isn't mine. I watched about 20 minutes -- left before Will Ferrell appeared. The opening was clever; I watched to see if there was a glimmer of likeability on my part. Not. Of course, that's why they make chocolate AND vanilla ice cream. I'll take my chances with Leno in the fall."

"I am not understanding the appeal of Andy Richter at all. He does not seem the least bit funny to me."

"The addition of Andy Richter is genius! That choco-taco banter was funny and seemed to relax Conan's nervous energy. I'll watch again for sure."

"Conan stayed true to form, but for the 'Tonight Show' slot I think he's going to have to have a stronger monologue and concentrate on just being funny."

"The Tonight Show is effectively gone. This was Late Night with Conan O'Brien with more money and a bigger studio. Despite the time and effort that went into the taped pieces (the tram piece should have been better), after 17 years Conan is still so unconfident as a performer that he has to resort to jumping around and wildly mugging at every opportunity. Lack of confidence (real or put on) can work at 12:30 (Jimmy Fallon and Craig Ferguson both hit and miss), but it's deadly at 11:30."

"I grew up on the Tonight Show from the Jack Paar days as I first remember. Of course no one will ever replace JC. Leno grew on me. I did not like him at first. But I have to say based on opening night, I will get more sleep from now on. I won't make it a habit to wait up to see the show. I thought it was extremely poor and boring. Maybe I am just too old to get into Conan."

"I thought last night's show was awesome! Conan was hilarious and I loved the Universal Studios skit. I'm so happy he's back. My mind is honestly blown at how people can think Jay Leno is funnier than Conan...Really??"

Craig Ferguson to Jimmy Fallon: I challenge you to naked on-air wrestling!

We mentioned last night that David Letterman had a few words to say about Conan O'Brien's debut. Well, if you stuck around after Dave to watch Craig Ferguson, turns out he wanted to share some thoughts on the late night race as well.

After stating that he'd watched both Dave and Conan at 11:30 -- "I was trained in the art of double watching" -- Ferguson remarked that "Dave was his usual brilliant self, and Conan did fantastically well. It used to be me against Conan every night. It was like we would strip naked and wrestle. Some nights I lost and some nights I won. It doesn't matter anymore. He's on early. He's become one of them."

Then Craig addressed his time slot rival, Jimmy Fallon. "There's only two late night outlaws now -- me and the Fallon boy. And I tell you -- I thought that boy was going to go down, but he ain't going down. Not yet. I'm thinking, lie down, Jimmy, or you're going to get hurt. But he keeps getting up, I keep smacking him down. So I would hereby like to challenge Jimmy Fallon to naked on-air wrestling."

This week should be especially challenging for the Scot, considering that Fallon will be getting a massive lead-in from people curious about how Conan will play on "The Tonight Show." Last night, Conan scored a 7.1 rating in the overnights (measuring the country's largest media markets), meaning that more viewers were watching the redhead than David Letterman and "Nightline" combined. (By comparison, Jay Leno's final show on Friday drew an 8.8 rating.)

Conan O'Brien: Comments on his debut from Letterman, TV critics

David Letterman had a few gags about tonight's premiere of "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien," according to the New York Times' Bill Carter:

Having just returned from a vacation week, Mr. Letterman opened with some observations about the news from NBC. “I’m still here,” Mr. Letterman told his audience. “I knocked off another competitor.”

Mr. Letterman said his mother had called him to say, “Well David, I see you didn’t get the ‘Tonight’ show again.” And when he said he told his Mom that he had Bill Cosby as his guest, his mother said: “OK, maybe I’ll switch from Conan.”

So what did the critics think? The show hasn't aired yet on the West Coast, but a few TV writers have already weighed in with their reactions.

USA Today's Robert Bianco called Conan's first "Tonight" "a bit more frantic than the O'Brien norm, which is what you'd expect from a high-profile debut. Even so, if you like what he does — and I do — odds are you'll be happy for the chance to see him do it an hour earlier," adding that the broadcast "wasn't O'Brien at his funniest, but it was funny enough to get by."

The Edmonton Sun's Bill Harris gave thumbs down to announcer Andy Richter, saying and former O'Brien sidekick's "fake laughter was a real distraction during O'Brien's monologue, so hopefully Richter will tone down his forced ha-ha's, or at least learn to shut the hell up if he isn't laughing for real."

Time's James Poniewozik said O'Brien's first monologue was "sharp if not gut-busting," calling the show "a funny hour overall." Poniewozik believes O'Brien will keep his old fans, but has little hope of winning over the Leno diehards. "The Conan we saw on stage last night knows that he's the big man at the big desk, leading the big show. But he also seems to know that staying there will mean staying true to the oddball comedy writer who ambled onto NBC 16 years ago."

The Baltimore Sun's David Zurawik had one of the more negative reactions: the premiere was "a good one -- if you like canned video clips rather than topical humor. Otherwise, there wasn't much to get excited about." His Universal Studios tour bit "seemed mostly silly -- and went on forever." "My guess as to why he went with canned videos rather than a monologue is because the pre-produced tape is far safer," wrote Zurawik. "But a host who launches his new career by opting for the safe, is not someone I'm going to praise."

The Hollywood Reporter's Randee Dawn also remarked on the plethora of taped pieces, calling the show "a debut episode designed for those with ADD." Unabashed Conan fan Nathan Rabin of the Onion's AV Club said the premiere was "comfort food for Late Night fans jonesing hardcore for Conesy and his vaguely obsessive-compulsive tics and mannerisms... In his very first outing, Conan struck a nice balance between appeasing old fans like myself and courting new ones."

Conan O'Brien: First show spoilers

We looked, we really did, but even though the first "Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" wrapped over an hour ago, we haven't been able to find much info about it -- not even which song Pearl Jam played. Unlike Friday's farewell to Jay Leno, the media were not invited in. So you'll just have to tune in at 11:35 to see what happens. Sorry, spoiler fans! (If you're on the West Coast and can't wait, Canada's National Post will be liveblogging it.)

All we were able to dig up were a handful of monologue jokes, posted by Newsday.com, including this very topical gag:

"Well, I’ve timed this moment perfectly. I'm on a last place network, I moved to a state that's bankrupt, and tonight’s show is sponsored by General Motors."