This article says that David Letterman and Craig Ferguson have signed new contracts to remain at CBS "through 2014." I'm not sure what that means in terms of actual expiration dates but I'll be surprised if both don't extend again after that.
The piece sounds like a slightly-paraphrased CBS press release, noting that Dave is now poised to break Johnny Carson's record as the longest-serving late night host. I'm curious if he's already broken it in terms of hours served. What with guest hosts and more reruns, Johnny worked fewer nights per year than Dave does…though for many years, Johnny's show was a lot longer.
The reporter also compares the number of Emmy Awards that each has received. Dave's won more though there may be a reason. One of the rarely-mentioned aspects of the Emmy Awards is that the rules get rewritten every year and often, they're rewritten at the urging (nicer word than "threats") of powerful folks in the industry. Mr. Carson started doing The Tonight Show in 1962. Guess what year the series won its first Emmy. It wasn't until 1976.
Johnny's show first competed in a category called "Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Variety" which put Tonight in up against things like The Danny Kaye Show and The Carol Burnett Show. Some years, I believe they were competing with the Academy Awards. Anyway, they lost repeatedly. At some point, Johnny became irked by that so he made a bit of a fuss or perhaps had NBC make one on his behalf. In response, a new category suddenly appeared: "Outstanding Variety Series – Talk." This did not solve Johnny's problem because he kept being beaten in it by Dick Cavett or David Frost. Then about the time their shows went off the air, the category was eliminated and Johnny went back to competing with Carol Burnett and the Oscars and didn't win then, either.
Finally, in 1976, Johnny went public with his feeling that the Emmys were configured to prevent his show from ever winning one. He brought it up in a press interview and even talked about it one night on his program, causing the Emmy folks to scramble and get him one. He and the show received a special Emmy in that year, the next year, the year after, the year after and the year after. Then he didn't get one again for twelve more years…until the year he went off. A very odd pattern.
Two other things in the article jumped out at me. Here's one…
Ferguson's "Late, Late Show" has charted its own late-night course since its debut in 2005, with the Scottish-born host frequently tearing up the accepted format by rearranging the order of the show, having themed episodes and delivering unscripted monologues.
"Rearranging the order of the show?" What does that mean? Ferguson starts with a cold opening but so do Dave, Jay and Jimmy Kimmel on occasion. Then it's always monologue, comedy bit at the desk, Guest #1, Guest #2 and Musical Act. Same format as most of them. "Themed episodes?" I think he's done two or three plus he took the show to France the way Dave and Jay have taken their shows to other cities, though not lately. And "Unscripted monologues?" Ferguson works looser and improvises more than the other guys but he has a writing staff that writes jokes for him and most of what he says is prepared in advance.
Also, I winced at the line that said that Craig will be moving to a larger studio. Has that ever helped a show? I thought one of the reasons Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show didn't work as well as his later-night program was that his new studio made it feel like the band was in the next county and the audience was in another time zone. Ferguson's show has a nice, intimate feel and he works close to the camera anyway. If it ain't broke…