James Corden, America's Sweetheart

I no longer have any faith in America...

Well, at least as far as what America thinks is funny.

Four months ago I chronicled the first week of CBS Late night's newest host, James Corden.

Back then I described his style as a "Giddy Schoolgirl" and someone who was just "playing host."  

The burning question on my mind is how someone can do something fifty times and not get any better at it.

It seems America doesn't agree...

The trades love him, blogs love him (not this one) and apparently so too does a wide swatch of the American viewing public. 

What the hell man!

What about this guy is so compelling?

Is it the accent?

That he looks like a Red Haired Pillsbury Dough Boy? 

The parade of indy musical acts nobody outside of a college dorm have ever heard of?

The on-set bar?  

Hmmm, perhaps its presence insinuates that one should be drunk before watching.

Whatever...

Since most of Corden's fans appear to come from the "college" demographic allow me to put this in the form of an SAT analogy.

James Corden is to late night as brick is to windshield.

If James Corden were to be compared to other late night hosts over the past decade the formula would go something like this:

Craig Ferguson on CBS = Conan O'Brien on NBC.

So in that vein, James Corden on CBS = Seth Meyers on NBC

Although that may be somewhat unfair to Seth Meyers as he is an actual comedian, just not very funny.

The smartest thing the producers have done in the intervening months is inject more of bandleader Reggie Watts into the show.  Watts is what I call a "subtle comic" meaning he doesn't have to go over the top to get a laugh which is in diametric opposition to the often contrived performance of Corden.

In short, you could have seen none of the episodes between the first and the fiftieth and missed nothing of consequence.  I'll give him this much, he's consistent.  Consistently bad.

His guests are largely forgettable generally coming from the second tier of the talk show circuit with the only exception being uninspired last stops on promotional tours.

Perhaps this is what CBS wanted.  A non-threatening shill devoid of any qualification for the position that will happily tow the corporate line without question.

If that's what America wants, you can have it.  Just don't delude yourself into thinking your being edgy or counterculture by watching Corden's show.

Letterman ends an era

The lights are out, the desk is clear and the empty chair is facing a partially disassembled New York Skyline.  There are hints of what was scattered everywhere but now they're just broken reflections of a shattered mirror.

At least that's how I picture it.

I don't live anywhere near New York but looking at a live shot of the now defunct marquee of Late Night with David Letterman had more meaning than I thought it would.  It's just a dumb late night variety show right?  There's dozens of them now...

Except that its passing only confirms what we already knew.  Letterman's final sign off signals the end of an era of television that punctuated entertainment with intelligence. 

No, I didn't watch every episode and Letterman's not my hero but watching his show was a kind of rite of passage for me.  Imagine being a 16 year old kid left home alone for a weekend for the first time with complete control of the TV remote and not about to hit the sack after the local news.  It was my choice and my taste for the first time. 

Over the years I watched on and off.  Even if I wasn't a faithful viewer, it was reassuring to know that Dave was there holding up his end of the conversation in an entertainment world populated by mindless sitcoms and reality TV.  There must have been something to it because Dave always seemed to be able to get the Presidents and seldom seen Hollywood hermit types that nobody else could.

Yes, we still have Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel but they're of a different generation.  They all have their moments but those moments only come with the frequency of a sine wave instead of the steady state of Letterman.

Everything changes but the over the top antics and the short attention span theater of current Late Night entertainment is often just pale imitation in comparison.  Now it's about the 30 second video clip stuck on YouTube the next day with a nag card at the end saying " Watch (insert show here) on (insert network here) @ 11:30/10:30 Central."

Is it likely that any of them could earn a Peabody Award like Craig Ferguson's 2009 interview with Bishop Desmond Tutu?  Will they be able to console a wounded country like Letterman did a week after 9/11?

It's not likely, there's just no there, there.

Want proof?  Guess who was James Corden's guest tonight during his "Carpool Karaoke." 

Justin Bieber...

A display of a talent pool so shallow a cricket couldn't get wet.  This is the state of late night and if you like it you're welcome to it. 

I prefer to take my attention elsewhere.

Thanks for the memories Dave. 

Our only hope now is Stephen Colbert...