CBS Keeps Guest Hosts Up "Late Late"

Wed., Nov. 3, 2004 5:55 PM PST by

It's down to the wire in the search for the new Kilby.

CBS announced Wednesday that four recent Late Late Show guest hosts will return for another shot in the post-Letterman time slot. Pop-culture pundit/actor Michael Ian Black, comedian/sitcom star D.L. Hughley, MTV TRL host Damien Fahey and actor Craig Ferguson will all pull weeklong guest spots in November for CBS.

The Eyeball would not confirm widespread speculation that Black, Hughley, Fahey and Ferguson represented the final four in the host search.

The quartet was among the 20 fill-ins who recently subbed for the departed host of five years, Craig Kilborn. Kilby checked out in August after five years behind his very expensive Bavarian oak desk.

World Wide Pants' Rob Burnett, the producer of The Late Late Show, said in a statement Wednesday that the company "received tremendous feedback on these talented individuals during their initial short stints on the show, and we are thrilled to bring them back for more substantial engagements."

Although CBS suits had said after Kilborn's exit that they hoped to have a successor named by the end of October, on Wednesday, the network would only say that a new permanent host would be announced "shortly."

Aside from the four returnees, fill-in hosts included Aisha Tyler, Tom Arnold, Drew Carey, Adam Carolla, Amy Sedaris, Jim Rome, Late Late Show head writer Mike Gibbons and, in a one-off appearance, David Duchovny. But many have other projects in the works and are not likely in serious contention for the daily CBS yakfest.

With a big-name host unlikely to commit, this next month will like be the crucial proving ground for the four Late Late Show hopefuls. First up for guest-hosting duties is Ferguson starting Nov. 8. Hughley will follow him the week of Nov. 15., Fahey the week of Nov. 22 (his stint will be truncated due to the Thanksgiving holiday), followed by Black the last week of November into early December.

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