Or uhm … a quiver. Or maybe a little shimmer or shake. How about a … zzzzzzzzz.
Hey guess what? Craig Kilborn is leaving The Late, Late Show. And really soon. Within weeks, it seems. Apparently, he decided that 5 years of having nobody watch him was plenty, and if nobody was going to watch what he was doing, he might as well do it off-camera. So now he’s going to write and produce … stuff. Can’t wait.
Actually, the Variety article linked to above (no reg required for that one) brings up an interesting scenario. Apparently David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants, which produces the Kilborn show, plans to simply replace hime as host. Variety floats the idea that CBS could make a run for Conan O’Brien who has a little over a year left on his NBC deal. Why would Conan make such a move? It’s not quite as ridiculous as some may think. First, it would give CBS a network monopoly (for now, at least) on New York based late-night shows. Second, they would obviously guarantee through Conan’s contract, that he would inherit Letterman’s Late Show time slot whenever Letterman decides to call it quits. And you know what, I’d put down money right now that Letterman hangs it up far sooner than workaholic Jay Leno does. Of course, there’s no indication that Letterman is calling it quits anytime soon, but it’s possible. The stories of his off-camera mood and demeanor have been floating for years. Maybe he’ll decide he just doesn’t want to deal anymore.
While NBC should obviously do everything they can to keep the best network show in late night (i.e., Conan — I’m not throwing The Daily Show into the equation), it wouldn’t be a total loss if he did switch to the other side. They could slide-up Last Call with Carson Daly to the 12:35 slot, and while his show wouldn’t be the comedic fun of Conan, it would provide an interesting contrast both as a lead-out to Leno and in competition to Conan. Daly still needs to make his interviews slightly more interesting and less meaningless chatter, but his show being much more interview and music related could be interesting competition for the same demo that Conan goes after.
Meanwhile, as far as I’m concerned, Kilborn won’t be missed. CBS is making a big deal out of how they’re happy with his lowly ratings because he did better than Tom Snyder’s old show. Of course, that’s because Snyder was an old bore and the only ratings he received were from people who fell asleep with the TV on. The only regular funny Kilborn brought to the table was oggling any hot model or actress that came on his show. Keep in mind, Kilborn has had a charmed career as it is, and if history proves correct, whoever takes over his show will probably turn it into something much better than it currently is. For example, there have been as good if not better Sportscenter anchors on ESPN since he left to go host … what was it? Oh yeah: How many of you remember that he was the original host of The Daily Show. That’s right — before any of you actually watched it; before The Daily Show became appointment television; before it became The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, it was just The Daily Show, starring Craig Kilborn, doing unfunny fake news with an unfunny smirk and throwing 5 questions at his guests.
So goodbye Craig. I look forward to your stay behind the camera.
Out of Focus 
without sounding like a 16 year old at a Jimmy Eat World concert… I DID watch the Daily back when Kilborn was on. And actually I liked his schtick. I also liked that low budget kung-fu snippet they used to use to lead-into the 5 questions segment. And remember, dear reader, that is was Craig who invented the Moment of Zen. In fact, I remember when Stewart came on, there was even talk of them gettin rid of the Zen Moment, because it was too closely associated with Kilborn.
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I was very sorry to see Craig leave — aside from his oggling which I am sure all males do
and say they don’t — I think his show was very good it was a break from watching Letterman not let a guest get a word in — and not to miss
lead you I like Letterman — his shows are better since he became a father !!!! What ever Craig does I believe it will be very good –
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