Ferguson’s Mugging Will Soon Be In HD

COMMENTS (43)

• People do understand what mugging means.

  The original title posted was “Ferguson’s Ugly Mug Will Soon Be In HD” but Nikki I guess felt bad about it?

  Comment by Frankie Raye — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 1:15pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Wow. HD? Welcome to 2005, Craig!

  Comment by Whatchoo' Talkin' 'bout? — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 1:34pm PDT  Reply to this post

• This is off-base – Ferguson is the only guy worth watching in late night, I just wish he was on earlier so I could watch regularly. His long, rambling, mostly improvised monologues are the best part of the show, and he doesn’t give a boring celebrity long before he takes over and continues entertaining the audience. I don’t know how he does it every night, but he generates more real laughs in a week than any of the others do in a year.

  Comment by Joe Melnick — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 1:35pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I honestly had no idea Ferguson had fans until I began clicking on DHD’s comment threads.

  Comment by Jonathan — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 2:32pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I like Ferguson as well. His openings can sometimes be bizarre for a major net talk show (and I mean that in a very good way).

  I’ve wondered when they were going to make the HD jump.

  Kimmel ain’t that bad, and by the way, he’s been in HD for a while.

  But, I’m a Ferguson fan if it comes down to it.

  Comment by Rob G — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 2:54pm PDT  Reply to this post

• @Defending Nikki:

  The headline originally read “ugly mug” but was changed to only “mugging.”

  Comment by snark monster — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 3:39pm PDT  Reply to this post

• It originally said “ugly mug”, which I figured was a reference to his snake mug, not his face.

  Don’t get the change though…

  Maybe Nikki’s just being a b*tch??

  Comment by Will — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 4:01pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Ferguson is flat out the funniest guy in late night. I started watching out of boredom, now I’m a full-fledged fan. His mugging is hilarious.

  Comment by yvonnjanae — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 5:36pm PDT  Reply to this post

• There is not much innovation you can do in Late Night. It’s talk. That means a grind-it-out approach that will burn out even the most talented. Heck Leno at one point in the mid to early Nineties was far more professional and polished than he was in his late run with Tonight.

  Guests come on, they mostly don’t want to be there, they are plugging some project via contractural obligations. Most of them are as dull as dishwater outside their acting or singing. A target broad audience means a lot of jokes cannot be done for fear of alienating sponsors. Ratings are anemic.

  Hosts will either chew up time with prepared gag film (Conan) or mug about (Letterman, Ferguson is not really that bad compared to Dave), or used “Stupid Pet Tricks” and other gags pioneered in the early fifties by Ernie Kovacs, or improv-jokes from a stand-up background (Jay Leno, Ferguson). It depends what their strength is.

  Conan’s a writer, so he goes with the prepared bits. Watching him do traditional standup is painful (which he can sometimes milk for laughs but not always). Ferguson and Leno are stand up guys so that’s their strength. Dave worships at the altar of Kovacs so he basically riffs off what Kovacs did (less so now that he’s older and stunts like the velcro suit are too physically demanding). Kimmel’s also a writer, so he’ll do taped bits (some of which are hysterically funny).

  It’s harder over time (5 shows a week, nearly 50 weeks a years) to be good with the taped bits which are demanding in prep time so over time, the stand-up guys tend to have an advantage. Dave’s been coasting on his prior effort (he’s not been funny since about 1995) and general audience good-will (his fans followed him since his amazing but flop-tacular daytime show in the early 1980′s). Over time (remember, all these shows are resource constrained) a guy like Ferguson or Leno will win over more times than not over a tape guy like Kimmel or Conan.

  Comment by whiskey — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 6:12pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Craig Ferguson ROCKS. And, he’s hot. And tall and smarter than you!!! And has a nicer house, a prettier wife and he’s really, really funny.

  Comment by Cabbage — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 7:42pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Some of you are catching Nikki’s efforts to make good by changing ugly mug to mugging. She took a shot at him this morning and has done some editing. So we all understand what mugging means – only it was a personal attack this morning. Nikki sometimes feels bad and cleans up her messes.

  Comment by Michael Buckley — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 7:53pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Now we know where the HD equipment from THE GUIDING LIGHT is ending up

  Comment by DenW — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 10:32pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Oh Whiskey, don’t you know it all? Spare me, loser.

  Comment by Please — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 11:04pm PDT  Reply to this post

• In fairness to Nikki, let’s assume she was referring to Craig’s snake mug. Craig’s face? Craggy, appropriate given his name, but very appealing. He’s the only late night host with sex appeal and he’s got it in spades.

  Craig has become fond of comparing his show to PeeWee’s playhouse but I wish he’d grow up a bit. He’s very, very smart and my favorite guests are the authors and political commentators.

  Comment by Paula — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 11:37pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Ferguson is the funniest of the late nighters … by far.

  He also comes across as a decent sort.

  Comment by James — Tuesday August 4, 2009 @ 4:50pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Whiskey – Kimmel sucks. He had ONE count ‘em, ONE taped bit that caused any buzz and that was the Matt Damon thing, 3 years ago. Did you know that he had nothing to do with that bit? Sarah Silverman created it all and shot it as a big surprise for that hump’s birthday.

  He’s precisely what’s wrong with everything in this town. He represents mediocrity and sends the message that having little or no talent is ok. He’s George effing Bush. He’s been on long enough with nothing to show for it, for my taste.

  Comment by half — Tuesday August 4, 2009 @ 5:05pm PDT  Reply to this post

• It is no longer required of Dave Letterman that he be his 1990s funny. Life experience counts. It comes through. Whatever is truly funny sort of rides on its shoulders. That is why Dave Letterman and Craig Ferguson are in a class by themselves and why they will endure, be they outdated or not. Johnny Carson, for goodness sakes, wasn’t always funny. But he surely wore well. And he was not there five nights a week. Nor is Stewart, nor is Colbert. Ferguson tapes both the Thursday and Friday shows on Thursday. As good as he is, he needs to drop Fridays and guest-host Betty White, Steven Wright…

  Comment by George — Saturday August 15, 2009 @ 10:45pm PDT  Reply to this post