Craig Ferguson says good night
Stephen Colbert and Craig Ferguson are wrapping up their stints on their respective talk shows this week, so watch them while you can. Here are a few other program suggestions:
MONDAY, DEC. 15 State of Affairs ( Global, NBC, 10 p. m.)
Damn you, Katherine Heigl. I am sucked in by you and your kaleidoscoping betrayals and secret agendas. This show about an adviser to the president is still utterly ridiculous. FREEDOM, PEACE ON EARTH, THE ONE TRUE UNCRACKABLE PASSWORD THAT WE CAN ALL REMEMBER — ALL GOOD THINGS HINGE ON THE PRESIDENTIAL BRIEFINGS, PEOPLE! But the action sequences are well done, the acting is solid and the weekly revelations of a more and more complicated story have grabbed me. This week, President Payton ( Alfre Woodard) has questions for Nick Vera ( Chris McKenna) after part of the convoy attack report is leaked. And Heigl’s Charleston? What style of hair and cocktail dress will she sport this week?
TUESDAY, DEC. 16 Just For Laughs: Don Rickles ( CBC, 9 p. m.)
I was lucky enough to be in the audience for this gala on July 23 at Place des Arts, which also featured performances by Tom Papa, Caroline Rhea, Adam Hills and Alonzo Bodden. Don Rickles is a treasure. On this evening, the 88- year- old rested on a stool and faltered a couple of times. But those were easily swept away by his torrent of comic energy and the joy he clearly gets ( and gives) in performance. Watch this and say thank you to a guy who is indefatigable and continues to inspire so many.
The Poseidon Adventure ( TCM, 8 p. m.)
Indulge me, would you? Although, I guess you have no choice. This is one of my favourite holiday movies from way back, 1972 to be more precise. A cruise ship has a very bad New Year’s Eve. The best and worst of humanity are revealed, as well as Shelley Winters’s underthings. Me, I pretty much fell in love with Gene Hackman, even though he was a reverend ( sorry, God). He was a year beyond The French Connection and three years shy of The Conversation. In. His. Prime. OK, super- guilty pleasure. But it’s a tidal wave better than the 2005 remake, which I watched, alone in an otherwise empty theatre, just to prove it was crap.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 17
Corner Gas: The Movie ( CTV, 8 p. m.)
Once more to Dog River, Sask., fictional setting of one of the most successful Canadian TV sitcoms, helmed by Brent Butt. The town is flat busted. Everybody’s quite sentimental. Unless … Is there still time?
THURSDAY, DEC. 18 The Colbert Report ( Monday- Thursday 11: 30 p. m. on M3, 12: 30 a. m. on Comedy)
Not for lack of love and respect for merry fictionalized provocateur Stephen Colbert, but I won’t weep for him here. He’s only temporarily off our radar, returning to replace David Letterman on The Late Show sometime after Letterman’s just confirmed departure date of May 20, 2015. Also helping me resist sentimental goodbyes? The Daily Show’s former Senior Black Correspondent Larry Wilmore and his new Nightly Show ( originally called Minority Report), which will replace The Colbert Report starting Jan. 19 on Comedy Central ( no Canadian broadcaster yet).
FRIDAY, DEC. 19 Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ( 12: 35 a. m. on CBS, Omni1)
“Most nights I say, ‘ It’s a great day for America’ and of course it is. It’s just a very sad day for me.”
This reads like it could be the monologue opener for tonight’s Late Late Show, which will be the final one for Ferguson, who started hosting the show Jan. 3, 2005 and along the way won a Peabody for his interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The man whose best onstage friend is a robot skeleton named Geoff Peterson, designed and built by Grant Imahara of MythBusters. Also, the horse. And the puppets. But I digress.
The above line could be the opener to tonight’s sendoff show, but it is not. It is how he opened the show in December 2008 after returning from the funeral of his mother, Janet Ferguson. You will be able to read a lot of about how mad funny Ferguson is and was, how impressive his unscripted monologues, how silly and surprising his interviews, sometimes to draw people out and sometimes just to be silly. So here, I’ll say only that I appreciated how genuine he seemed or, as one online commenter put it: “I love him for showing such human- ity in a Hollywood world of fakeness.” Look for this story at montrealgazette. com/ entertainment to watch videos of the monologue in which he eulogizes his mom, interviews his sister, actress Lynn Tweddle, and the full Tutu interview. And if you’re verklempt at the thought of late- night life without Ferguson, do yourself a favour and download the audio- book version of his 2009 memoir American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, in which he talks about growing up in Scotland and coming to America. The book is good, too, but I highly recommend the audio book, especially because he voices it. I had it on a loop a couple of years back. Just as funny and warm and genuine as the host himself.
Game of Thrones ( HBO Canada, 9 p. m.)
Also on this day, HBO Canada is catching you up on Game of Thrones, with two hours a night, through to Jan. 1. Winter, as they say, is coming. Hunker down. A word to the wise, though: Keep a pillow or a fistful of the sofa throw handy for covering your tender eyes when the more harrowing eviscerations threaten. Later, there will be head poppings and other more creative geysers of death, but the early ones are more unsettling until you get the hang of the death- o- rama that is this show. Season 5 starts on April 8, 2015.
SATURDAY, DEC. 20 Saturday Night Live ( Global, NBC, 11: 35 p. m.)
Amy Adams hosts, promoting her new biopic Big Eyes, with musical guest One Direction.
SUNDAY, DEC. 21 All Hail King Julien ( Netflix, full season)
Big Madagascar fan? Netflix has the next chapter in the popular animated film franchise that started in 2005. Instead of Sacha Baron Cohen, Danny Jacobs voices the king, but originals Andy Richter and Henry Winkler are still along for the ride.
“With his loyal sidekicks Maurice and Mort, they meet a whole new cast of colourful animals, including ambitious head of security Clover and the villainous Foosa. No one can stop this king from ruling with an iron fist ... in the air ... wavin’ like he just doesn’t care.” Sounds wacky.