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.

Corden's Late Late Show - Night 3 or Oh GOD let it end!

Night 3...

Show opened with yet another Conan ripoff.  A pretaped comedy bit Corden calls Carpool Karaoke.  Mariah Carey must have nothing better to do because she was stuck in the passenger seat for it.  We were subjected to 5 minutes of James Corden doing a sing-along with Mariah Carey who was really only there to get a mention of her upcoming album on the show.

What did we learn? James Corden can't sing and he's got no game...

Now on to that ugly couch again....

Tonight's guests were Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart.  Corden stayed true to his formula having both Hart and Ferrell on at the same time.  We learned that Will Ferrell recently received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame which segued into a short comedy bit from Ferrell. 

Kevin Hart was there and that's about all we can say about that.  Will Ferrell on the other hand is virtually guaranteed to boost anybody's ratings.  True to form, he launched into numerous improv bits which was welcome relief to Corden's gushing. 

Intervening conversation included a deep discussion of the ass print Will Ferrel made in his latest movie, "Get Hard" which he co-stars with Kevin Hart followed by a clip from the film.

So far Corden's guests this week are by and large doing the current talk show circuit meaning their appearance is nothing special.  Ferrell and Hart, for example, are currently promoting their new film while Patricia Arquette was promoting her new series, CSI: Cyber.

The Jimmy Fallon rip-off bit tonight was a game called "Mind Link" with Corden playing emcee and Hart and Ferrell reading off note cards.  One set was questions and one answers and if the question and answer matched up it was considered a "Mind Link."

Yawn...

By the way, at one point before the game Corden said that if there was a "Mind Link" the patrons at the bar would get $100. 

Did I mention there's a bar on the set?  Yeah, it's just product placement for Bud Light so nothing to get excited about.  Now if somebody passed out at the bar or vomited during Corden's monologue that might be interesting...

Anyway, Corden promised that if a "Mind Link" happened that each patron would be guaranteed $100 which he calculated to be .27 cents a day for a year.  Apparently Corden doesn't have a calculator because .27 times 365 days only comes out to $98.55.  I'd be pissed if I didn't get my $1.45...

Back to the talk show textbook and again the show was brought to a close with yet another musical nobody.  This time it was an R&B group fronted by Leon Bridges only recently discovered at the drunkfest known as South by Southwest (SXSW.)  They weren't too bad, I'm sure they'll get booked for a lot of weddings now.

There were a few minutes left at the end of the show which Corden used to thank his guests and prove that he can add dancing to the skills he does not possess.

As I checked the schedule on CBS.com it showed that Thursday and Friday's shows were pre-empted.  This is the middle of March Madness which is the likely cause.  That or a golf game.  This is CBS you know. 

In any case I find it a blessing.  I know I've been pretty negative on Corden but I honestly hoped I would have changed my opinion but if anything my initial assessment back in November has been confirmed.  This guy has no talent and CBS is just throwing money at his show to make up for it. 

Online reviews have been overwhelmingly positive which I find suspect.  Either the reviewers are completely without taste, blind or paid off.   I wouldn't put it past CBS to pay for positive promotion of Corden's show as it's virtually impossible to find anything critical of it.  From British newspapers to Variety and CNN, nary a discouraging word can be found. 

I know you've seen those commercials for cleaning up your online image.  I bet CBS has one of those in their contact list...

Nobody is that perfect, especially James Corden.  There's no creativity here and his show reflects it.  It's a cavalcade of poorly executed rip-offs of other talk shows seasoned with a bit of British "chat show."   I don't know whether it's Corden or CBS that's responsible but I'd be surprised if the show has half as long a run as its predecessor.

So I'm going to end the series here.  Honestly, there's just nothing more to be said and I really don't like spending too much time on negative topics.  

I'm done with James Corden and thank the lord for that...

This guy makes Seth Meyers look entertaining.

Grade F -----

Corden's Late Late Show - Day 2

Night 2...

Came in a little late tonight.  There was a special on PBS about the Harvey Girls that was more interesting.  Even then I still managed to fall asleep in the middle of it.

Tonight's guests were Patricia Arquette and Chris Pine with musical group Modest Mouse.

The show opened with Corden on a ride along with a pizza delivery driver.  Each stop found bewildered customers suffering through bad jokes that included among other things,  a pizza made of Play-Doh, a  Mariachi band and a Sumo wrestler match in somebody's living room.

In other words, it was pretty much a rip-off of a classic Conan O'Brien bit just not as well done.

From there we moved on to the interview segment where just as the previous night, we found both guests seated on an ugly couch.

I didn't notice that couch on Monday but now that I do, I can tell you that it looks like something my grandmother would have thrown out somewhere around 1977. 

Ugly couch, really, ugly, couch...

Since tonight's guests included one of this year's Oscar winners and both guests had attended, the conversation was dominated by inane chatter and Chris Pine's emotional moment at the ceremonies.

Once again, nothing of substance came from the exchange as Corden fawned over his guests.  All we learned tonight was that Patricia Arquette has an Oscar, stars in CSI:Cyber and Chris Pine did a movie with James Corden once.   

In other words, Corden had switched from ripping off Conan O'Brien to gushing over guests a' la Jimmy Fallon.

I've noticed that Corden is a very touchy-feely kind of guy in interviews which I suppose is a very British thing but somewhat unnerving for guests.

There was another skit, this time with both Arquette and Pine supposedly playing a scene from the Young and the Restless found in a copy machine.  Weak premise even weaker execution...

There was some hope as Chris Pine repeatedly breaking things on the set was the only time I actually laughed.

The show wrapped up in typical late night formula style with a relatively unknown musical group performing an equally unknown selection from their catalog.  Tonight it was a band called "Modest Mouse" which I thought was aptly named as they had a modest amount of talent.

Tonight's show gets a D- but not because Corden got any better.  Chris Pine made me laugh during the skit which is the first time since the show debuted.  That had to be worth something.

I'm fairly certain that had I not committed to watching an entire week of Corden's show for the 12 people who read this blog, I'd have given up by now.

On to Night 3

Corden's Late Late Show -- Day 1

A Willy Wonka Golden Ticket...

That's what greeted viewers of the inaugural Late Late Show with James Corden at the helm.  It came in the form of a prerecorded skit that featured the likes of Jay Leno, Meryl Streep, Shia LeBeouf and Arnold Swarzenegger as drill instructors in a kind of late show boot camp. 

Dripping in satire, it was an obvious acknowledgment of Corden's lukewarm reception since being chosen as the new host as well as the delay in his start date.

We were then introduced to the new Late Late show band headed by Reggie Watts best known as the strange sidekick of Scott Aukerman on IFC's Comedy Bang! Bang! 

While Watts probably would have been a better choice as host, The Roots ( Jimmy Fallon's house band) have nothing to worry about.

One thing was clear.  CBS is betting the farm on Corden with a star studded premier that included Tom Hanks and Mila Kunis as his first guests and a set that Craig Ferguson could only dream of. 

Taking a page from British talk shows, Corden chose to have both Hanks and Kunis on at the same time leading to what was at times a chaotic exchange.

Corden, Mila Kunis and Tom Hanks on Show 1

The interview itself was much less formal than the average late night fare with Corden eschewing the interview desk for a chair next to Hanks and Kunis.  

Aside from pressing for confirmation of Kunis marriage to Ashton Kutcher, the conversation stayed light and largely irrelevant.  It was evident that Corden was attempting to adopt at least some of Craig Ferguson's interview style.  That being a discussion less about profession and more about personal topics like family and children. 

But where Ferguson was relaxed and informal, Corden comes off more like a giddy schoolgirl gossiping with friends.  A trait sometimes shared with the Tonight Show's Jimmy Fallon.  But where Fallon has real comedic talent and an affable manner to offset his enthusiasm, Corden seems to just be "playing" host.  Of course he is a Tony award winning actor so it's really no surprise that he'd fall back on those talents.

In the end the only thing we learned from tonight's show was that Mila Kunis "might" be married and Tom Hanks has 4 adult children.  Nobody was expecting a Ted Talk but the whole exchange had about as much depth as rain puddle.

Ok, so maybe he'll get better.

Corden is a bit of a culture shock to Americans not used to British "Chat Shows" and is best compared to hosts like Graham Norton or Jonathan Ross than a Jay Leno or Jimmy Fallon.  British talk shows tend to have a more circus atmosphere with hosts more likely to dance on their desks than interview from them.  How that will go over on an American network remains to be seen. 

Graham Norton Show

I didn't suffer any such shock, however, as I've seen plenty of British "chat shows" and to be honest I find the format dull and self-serving for the hosts.  British talk shows have always seemed far more superficial to me than their American counterparts.  It was more about having the famous guest than gleaning any real information from them.

There was a tribute of sorts to Tom Hanks film career with both Corden and Hanks acting out (badly) characters from his films against a green screen backdrop.  Hanks seemed to be enjoying himself but then he's got nothing to lose unless someone comes up with a Cosby-esque scandal. 

The show wrapped up with Corden seated at a piano singing us out which was as uninspiring as his Letterman interview. 

So far I give Corden's premiere an F.  It was tedious to watch and if I'm honest he just wasn't that entertaining let alone funny. 

There might be an explanation for it, however.  His resume is steeped in theater and light comedic roles meaning he's used to playing at being funny.  Pretending to be funny isn't actually being funny.  For the first few months he can play off his inexperience and a format strange to American viewers but that can only go for so long.

At this point I'm not expecting anything resembling Craig Ferguson's Peabody award winning interview with Desmond Tutu. 

On to night 2...