West Wing alum Bradley Whitford took on a new role at this year’s PALEYFEST as he stepped out to moderate THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN panel. Joining Whitford for the event was talk show star James Corden and executive producers Ben Winston and Rob Crabbe.
Since the show’s debut with Corden at the helm in 2015, the UK performer has rocketed to stardom, with segments from his show often going viral. Through the night, the group discussed what drove the tone of the series and his most popular segment, “Carpool Karaoke”. Corden’s show is not as well known for his political commentary, though it has
Corden’s show is not as well known for his political commentary as much as Seth Meyers or Stephen Colbert, but it was on the minds of the fans as an audience member asked if Corden would have POTUS on the show. Winston responded, “I don’t know the answer to that.” Corden added, “The thing is, there was the thing that happened with Jimmy Fallon, where he got quite a lot of criticism, and I thought that was really unfair.” The host was referring to during the election season when Fallon took a light-hearted approach to interviewing the then-candidate. “I don’t think anyone asks him the right questions– I think anyone who had [Trump] on their show, I don’t think anybody took him to task or asked him the questions that needed to be done.”
Corden said he doesn’t believe their late night series is a “political show” but they do make their thoughts known, as was the case when they released a video during Trump’s first attempted travel ban ending with the phrase “Freedom of travel should be this easy for all immigrants– not just the white, Christian ones.” Corden also noted that while they’re not political, he’s “pretty sure we’re the only late night show to talk about the Syrian refugee crisis.”
So no, Corden’s Late Late Show is not “political,” but the balance of commentary as well as straight comedy and catchy, joyful segments, might be exactly what the late night landscape is in need of right now.
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Emily is a writer and television obsessor. If desired, Emily will talk to you at potentially-annoying-length about topics such as why soap operas are underrated, the current amazing state of underground comedy, and how she avoids TV/films about zombies because most of them do not chew with their mouths closed.
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Emily J | TV Editor
