Craig Ferguson

Amid the fallout from Late Night War II, it's clear that—whether there's an ironically arch comedy nerd or a mostly coasting vet behind the desk—the talk-show format is almost entirely played out. Scottish-American comedian Craig Ferguson has been aware of this for longer than most: He's spent his time hosting The Late Late Show goosing the chat-fest corpse, balancing the antics of his cast of cheeky hand puppets with more serious moments, like an episode dedicated to Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the struggle for racial equality in South Africa. As a stand-up, however, he's still more Jay Leno than David Letterman, and his material sometimes has a slightly hacky flavor; here's hoping he allows some of his show's anarchic looseness to creep in.  

Updated 02/17/2010