Angry fans have quite a bit of power over CBS these days. The network tried a little experiment last week with Craig Ferguson's talk show, and it ended up failing miserably. Fans probably noticed that at about 3 minutes into the show, Craig and Co. broke for a commercial. The commercial break forced Ferguson to pause in the middle of his monologue for a word from sponsors and then resume his routine afterwards.I want to know who on earth thought this was a good idea in the first place? It sounds like some money-grubbing accountant's idea... not someone who actually watches late night television. Amazingly, Craig agreed to the experiment. Fans got pissed off and inundated his show with angry e-mails, forcing an end to the I-coulda-told-you-it-was-a-bad-idea experiment. Now that it's kapput, Ferguson says "I will never do it again. It is over."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-16-2007 @ 8:01PM
Danny Edwards said...
Actually, last Thursdays show was back to normal. Friday's show still had the crappy commercial break because Friday's show is recorded on Wednesday.
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7-16-2007 @ 8:44PM
Elf said...
Anything that gets attention for The Late Late Show is a good thing. It's great to see a host who still looks like he's lucky to have the job in the first place and always seems happy to be there.
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7-16-2007 @ 10:14PM
Tess Capra said...
Ferguson let his feelings be known at the beginning so it obviously was an executive decision and not something he "let" happen. You're quite right about the economics: Ad rates are/were being based on how many people watched the ads, not the show. So by putting the first round of commercials during the monologue, they were trying to make sure the audience stayed instead of -- like many of us do -- turning to *Conan* at the first break.
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7-17-2007 @ 12:55AM
shawn said...
me and my brother watched the first time he did that. it pissed him off so much. he sent 5 emails immediately!
wow. he made a difference!
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7-17-2007 @ 2:58PM
Belcho said...
Whoa, I didn't know anybody actually watched this show.
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7-17-2007 @ 4:41PM
iamhoff said...
I just can't stand Ferguson. He just annoys the crap out of me. That being said, I hope the ad exec who thought up that stupid idea gets canned. The monologue is that for a reason...it sets up the desire to watch a show. To interrupt it for a commercial only pisses people off.
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7-26-2007 @ 7:23PM
John L. said...
Craig Ferguson's monologue is by far the best in late night. Rather than being a sequence of topical one liners (a la Leno), it is a self-contained, partially improvised, personal performance piece which uses some current topic as a catalyst. Ferguson's is also a sharp interviewer and provides some hilarious skits.
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