James Corden Addresses The Rumor That He’s Swapping Time Slots With Stephen Colbert

at
Share This Post

james-corden1

Is there a little truth in every rumor you hear? Does every work start with a shoot? There is speculation that the money bags pulling the strings at CBS are considering flip flopping their late night talk shows and giving James Corden the 11:35pm time slot while moving Stephen Colbert to the 12:35am spot in their lineup.

Host of the Late Late Show, James Corden told Variety that he finds the rumor to be a ridiculous idea. He said, “I just think it’s silly. I think it’s mostly just people trying to drum up something that doesn’t exist. The reason it doesn’t exist is that I know my boss [CBS CEO Leslie Moonves], and I know that when he makes a decision, that’s the decision he’s going to make. He’s going to stick by that and so should he. Have you watched Stephen’s show in the last two weeks? It’s incredible. It’s fantastic. It’s been just awesome to watch. I’m incredibly proud to be the show on after his. I think he is an incredible talent and a host and a broadcaster and a voice. That show, I feel like it’s finding its feet every single day.”

Corden may be a good corporate soldier. And he may think the idea is “silly” and that Les Moonves is sticking with his late night lineup as is, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been plenty of fuel to fire up this rumor. It began last month after the Emmy nominations were announced. While James Corden’s Late Late Show picked up nods for Outstanding Variety Talk Series, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series and Outstanding Interactive Program, Stephen Colbert and his Late Show were shut out completely. That’s a feeling Colbert wasn’t used to because he was a perennial Emmy nominee when he hosted “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central. That was the time when the rumor of swapping time slots first came up when the Washington Post first asked, “Is it time to start counting down to the moment the network replaces Colbert with Corden?”

If James Corden walks away Emmy night on September 18th with arms full of some serious hardware, the rumors may get even stronger no matter what Corden says to squash them.

Add all of Corden’s Emmy nominations to the fact that two of his Late Late Show segments have gotten spin-off deals. Corden’s “Drop the Mic”, rap bit hosted by Reggie Watts is going to be its own series on TBS, while viral sensation “Carpool Karaoke” has made an impressive deal with Apple Music.

As for Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, it has gotten praise for its live coverage of the Republican and Democratic national conventions, but those only happen every 4 years. And some of the only headlines Colbert has gotten is when the Late Show was forced to change showrunners by CBS back in April. Plus, there’s little changes like the Late Show having at least 3 different announcers introducing the program since it began, including Colbert himself. Those things demonstrate that the Late Show with Stephen Colbert has not found its voice yet in late night television, while James Corden is soaring at 12:35am.

As far as time slots go, James Corden feels time is just a number. He told Variety, “Also, I just find the very notion of talking about time slots to be something archaic really. It kind of feels like telling the time with a sundial. My son when he grows up, he’s not going to have any notion of scheduling or something being on at a certain time. Our show’s on 24 hours a day as far as I’m concerned. We just launch it at 12:37. I couldn’t tell you how many people watch our show. I couldn’t tell you when it’s on, because I just don’t make a show that’s about time slot in any way.”

So if the switch does come, it may only be James Corden’s son that doesn’t notice it in late night.

Read more comedy news.

Ernie Tripper

Ernie Tripper