Okay, I thought the first episode of The Late, Late Show with James Corden was fine. Not a lot of new talk show ground was broken but the host is personable and unafraid of real conversation. I don't know that they'll always be able to have folks on the couch who are as good at talking as Tom Hanks and Mila Kunis but if they can keep the level high — and the remaining two shows this week do look promising — I think they just might have something.
What didn't I like? The first main title looked fine. The second one not only seemed unnecessary but it looked like a reprise of Craig Ferguson's, complete with visits to some of the same local landmarks. The set seemed big and cluttered and it felt like the audience was a mile from him. (This was one of the things I think hurt Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show.) The Bud Lite bar on the set seemed like nothing more than shameless product placement but perhaps they have things planned that will make it seem less gratuitous.
The studio audience seemed way too overstimulated, like the warm-up comic had threatened them with immediate eviction if they didn't laugh at every joke and leap to their feet for every conceivable standing ovation. That's the way it is on most talk shows these days but it seemed to be working against a lot of what Corden was selling, which was excessive humility. I get that he is honored and overwhelmed by this opportunity but I think he made that point a few too many times.
So what did I like? Pretty much everything else though with minor reservations. The opening bit with various celebs teaching him his job was clever and so was the sketch with Corden and Hanks acting out moments from most of the latter's films…but both went on too long. The opening monologue was okay. The conversation was pretty good. I liked what little we saw and heard from Reggie Watts…though when Corden was standing next to him, it did look like a split-screen with images from two separate shows. Corden's closing song, which I presume was written by David Javerbaum, was a real nice way to end a good first outing.
It's unfair to dump on a first episode and almost as unfair to declare a great success…but I already like Corden more than anyone else in late night who shares his first name. And if the show slowly improves as most talk shows do their first year or three, it oughta become real good. I assume he's got time. Unless the ratings are an utter disaster (highly unlikely), CBS will keep him on until the measure of his success is how much of Colbert's audience he holds. For several months, he's going to follow prime-time reruns before that happens which won't help him…but they won't blame him if the numbers are bad during that period.
I would have liked to have seen them go with a host who didn't seem quite as committed to doing a conventional talk show with a few tweaks. Still, if they had to have one of them, I think they made a good choice. I have a feeling I'll be keeping my TiVo Season Pass.