It’s not that Craig Ferguson is a bad guy, it’s just that he’s not a very funny or interesting or interested guy. What I mean by interested is that he had a bad habit of having a very narrow focus, and diverting each interview to his “safe zone.” I don’t think I saw one person he interviewed where he didn’t bring up being Scottish, Scotland, something about his wife/father/mother/mailman/Scottish friends, or an obscure observation of European people…like how Austrians and Germans have different types of shoes or some shit.
Most people who loved his show praised his interviewing skills and how it just feels like a naturalistic conversation. Well…it really seemed more like a bad first date, with a guy who doesn’t really care much about what his date has to say, but they play along good-natured anyway. [Although he does win out over Jimmy Fallon, who seems like a meth-head with a racing heartbeat saying “that’s awesome” to everything as he tries to shuffle his guests over to some physical activity. Maybe it’s revealing that Ferguson’s only solid joke of the night was a slam on Fallon’s over-exuberance.]
The final episode seemed half-hearted at best, and it’s hard not to unfavorably compare it to The Colbert Report’s more epic send-off last night. Of course, that largely speaks to the impact the two shows had when they were actually on the air. Colbert ran for president, started a super PAC, illuminated his audience on everything from ocean acidity to lightsabers, created roughly one viral video sensation a week, etc. Ferguson talked about himself and Scotland and talked to a skeleton and/or dancing horse most of the week. He also used hand puppets sometimes…sometimes he read letters to him about him. Very few comedy bits involved Ferguson leaving the studio or actually interacting with other flesh and blood people, and the guests were usually less than the standard broadcast-talk-show-three.
All that isolation often had Ferguson’s stage looking very lonely, and tonight was no exception as he spent the first half hour talking to that damn skeleton and dancing horse, and then the second half talking to his only guest: Jay Leno. That’s right, his idea of a grand finale to remember him by was two exhausted wash-ups talking about what it’s like to be tired of doing a talk show. [Also, wasn’t having longtime Letterman nemesis Leno kind-of a subtle f-u to CBS? I know Ferguson will say he wasn’t passed over for the Late Night job or pushed out the door of his show but Leno as a last guest does seem symbolic.] Although a rumpled Leno was the highlight of the evening and his jokes really worked, it said something that Leno seemed sadder to end the interview than Craig did. Grade for Finale: C…Grade for Series: I don’t want to say because I only watched a dozen or so episodes, but it was a loooooong hour every time I did.