Many Irons In The Fire

Craig Ferguson is busy with history, new TV projects and, to the delight of fans, writing.

We’ve been fans of Craig Ferguson for more than two decades and have been writing extensively about him for the past several years here on the rsanews.com website. Our main goal is to keep a close eye on the news about what Craig is doing and compile it all in one place for fans to read. We’re proud to say we’ve become one of the most complete sources on the web for news and information about Craig. We keep track of his television shows, his stand up comedy tour and other projects he’s working on. And we couldn’t do it without the help of our loyal readers, many of whom regularly send us links to stories they’ve seen, to make sure everyone has a chance to hear about them. We’re grateful for their ongoing support!

In recent years, we’ve been able to develop some good working relationships with people who work with Craig, who we could send a tweet to answer questions or to help us make sure we were getting the story straight. And we have also gained a fan in Craig himself. He tells us he regularly reads our posts, joking that he checks with us when he can’t remember what he’s supposed to be doing next! He’s been very kind to retweet some of our Twitter posts, as well as giving us a “Follow Friday” a few years ago which we still display on our front page. And now, with his new show Join Or Die debuting on the History Channel, he offered to talk with us directly about the show. Here’s what he had to say:

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RSANews: The new show looks great and there are some familiar faces on the guest list, many of whom have been favorite guests of yours on The Late Late Show. When booking the show, did you set out to find those guests who can have a great conversation?

Craig: Absolutely. When it comes to booking the show, we start with a recipe. We want to have one guest who is an expert in the subjects we’ll be talking about on that night’s show. We want a comedian, because they’re quick, they’re up on current events and they’re well-read, so they can talk about these issues. And for lack of a better term, we’ll have someone in the “celebrity” seat, many of whom were on the old show and I enjoy their company.

RSANews: Some in the press have said, ‘This is how the History Channel is getting into late-night.’ But it doesn’t necessarily feel that way.

Craig: I tried to underline it when I was on the old show that it was not really a late-night show, and neither is this. Because of the time slot and because it’s people talking on television, it might look like one, but it’s not really.

RSANews: It reminds us of some of the British panel shows, where witty people can talk about just about anything and show off a bit, no matter what the format.

Craig: Yes, for me, it’s like some of the long-running British Radio 4 panel shows, actually, like Just A Minute, I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, or Loose Ends. It’s a form I like, that I’m familiar with, and that works. And just like it went with the old show, and with the game show, we’ll keep adding things as we go along. More will be revealed soon about how I’ll be working to make it even more fun and interesting.

RSANews: And while you’ll certainly have some people in the audience who have seen your previous shows, there will be new people checking it out as well.

Craig: We hope so, and it’s a show for a certain kind of person. We’re not re-inventing the wheel here; it’s people talking on TV. If you’re looking for a show that will affirm your existing beliefs, this may not be the show for you. On the other hand, if you are comfortable with having your beliefs challenged and can come into it with an open mind, you just might like it.

RSANews: Switching gears now: Celebrity Name Game has been picked up for a third season. You must be excited about that.

Craig: Yes, and we’ll be shooting a ton of episodes in March and pretty much all of April.

RSANews: You have all this television going on and you’re still touring doing stand up comedy. But you are first and foremost a writer. You’ve shared with us exclusively that you have optioned a novel by Laila Lalami called The Moor’s Account, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, Man Booker Prize nominee and winner of the American Book Award. It’s the imagined memoirs of the first black explorer of America, the slave of a Spanish conquistador. What is your plan for the project? A feature film?

Craig: No, it would be too hard to cram all of what’s in that book into just a couple of hours. Instead, we’re developing it for television, using a Game of Thrones model, as a series of one-hour episodes. We’re in discussions now to find it a home and if it does well, we think it could run for a while.

RSANews: Have you identified a channel where it might play? Maybe the History Channel since it’s a historic story and you have a presence there now with Join Or Die?

Craig: Maybe, but there are a lot of places it could work. We’re in discussions.

RSANews: We’ll look forward to hearing more. What else have you been writing?

Craig: Here’s another exclusive for you: My friend, the author Lawrence Block, is putting together a book filled with short stories, inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper. He asked for submissions from a bunch of swanky writers, and me. My story for the book is based on Hopper’s South Truro Church 1930. Watch for that book to appear in your local bookstore sometime soon.

RSANews: We can’t wait to read it! One other writing question: Since your novel Between the Bridge and the River came out in 2006, people have been wondering about a sequel. When you wrote the book, you were working on The Drew Carey Show, writing the book between scenes. You had some things you wanted to say, and compared to how busy your schedule is today, it was a very different time.

Craig: And I was a very different man. But, get this: I’m about four chapters in, maybe. There is some stuffing knocking around in there. We’ll have to wait and see.

RSANews: Thank you for sharing all of this with us. We’re grateful for the opportunity to talk with you.

Craig: I’m grateful for all you do. Keep doing it!

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Promotional Appearances
Craig is everywhere this week, doing interviews to promote Join Or Die. Here are the appearances he has made so far:

• Two Twitter chats
• “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit.com
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS
• Today on NBC
• The Nerdist Podcast
• Discussion with Esquire’s Mark Warren at Hearst Corporation
(co-owner of the History Channel)
• Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live: Full episode has not yet been posted, but the
seven-minute “after show” with more calls and questions is there.
• Interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News Radio.
• Interview on BuildAOL.
• The Chew on ABC

He also recorded an interview last week with Larry King on Ora.tv, which will be posted Wednesday, February 24th, and recorded an appearance on Live with Kelly and Michael, which will likely appear next week. Here are Craig’s upcoming appearances, and we’ll add to the list if we hear about more:

Fri Feb 19 11:00pm/11:30pm ET Join Or Die repeated back-to-back
Sun Feb 21 11:00pm/11:30pm ET Join Or Die repeated back-to-back
Thu Feb 23 12am ET @Midnight with Chris Hardwick
Wed Feb 24 2pm ET Larry King Now on Ora.tv (recorded last week)
Date TBA Time TBA Live with Kelly and Michael (recorded last Wednesday)

Press for ‘Join Or Die’
Craig has done more interviews about Join Or Die, including an extensive discussion with the Los Angeles Times, which says the new show will allow to him to take his skills as an interviewer in new directions. For Channel Guide Magazine, he explains more about the format of the show and what he likes about it. And he did a fun piece in US Magazine, 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me. He also did an extended interview with Salon.com.

Watch on Thursday
Join Or Die debuts on the History Channel on Thursday, February 18 at 11pm ET.

Video courtesy: History

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