Craig Ferguson stakes a new claim in late night

Television’s most famous “cheeky monkey” couldn’t stay away from late night for long.

When he left his 10-season stint as the host of CBS’ “The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson” at the end of 2014, the comic took a full year away from his natural evening habitat. But this month, he came roaring back into the night with his new weekly History channel talk show, “Join or Die.”

During his first late-night tenure, Ferguson was known for having a cast of absurd characters, from a robot sidekick to a talking horse and menagerie of puppets. But he told Esquire magazine his intentions were more thoughtful with his new endeavor.

“What we wanted to do was have a meaningful Socratic discussion on national television,” he told Esquire. Ferguson speaks further on “the problem of slavery.”

“This terrible darkness at the birth of this nation,” the Esquire reporter writes, “The show, in other words, will be talking about subjects he was never able to tackle on a major network variety program.”

Ferguson brings his live stand-up show to the Turlock Community Theatre on Friday, March 4.

The Scottish funnyman first became known to American audiences playing the often crude and obnoxious boss on “The Drew Carey Show” for seven years in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Then in 2005, he took over behind the desk of “The Late Late Show,” where he became known for his irreverent interview style and off-the-wall antics.

But Ferguson wasn’t only the leader of the “cheeky monkeys,” as he called his viewers. He was also a host whose intellect shone through his always off-the-cuff segments, so much so that in 2009, he was honored for a prestigious Peabody Award. The awards are handed out for “distinguished and meritorious public service” for radio, TV and other media work.

Part of what earned him his Peabody was an interview that year with Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The award committee said of his “The Late Late Show”: “One of the silliest hours on television (what with the trademark hand puppets and skeleton robots) could also be one of the smartest.”

Ironically, Ferguson said it was also that interview with Tutu that convinced him to make the leap away from his longtime late-night gig. During a Paley Center for Media celebration of his show last year, Ferguson said the legendary civil rights activist encouraged him to stay crazy during a commercial break.

“ ‘Keep doing the crazy thing!’ ” Ferguson said. “It’s Desmond Tutu saying, ‘Be as authentically crazy as you are.’ It was kind of like God saying, ‘Just be as crazy as you like.’ I felt weirdly released by that.”

That new crazy thing is his half-hour History venture that is named after a famous Ben Franklin political cartoon from 1754 urging the colonies to come together. Ferguson also has the image tattooed on his right forearm, a memento from when he became an American citizen.

His new series premiered Feb. 18 and airs at 11 p.m. Thursdays on History. The historical talk show will feature a new theme each week for a revolving group of three panel guests to discuss. The mix will include a historical scholar, a comedian and a celebrity guest. Topics will range wildly from the greatest Founding Fathers to the most influential drugs and bad medical ideas.

Ferguson told the Los Angeles Times that part of the appeal of the new talk show was the opportunity to have conversations with interesting people without the constant need to plug or sell their latest projects. But just because the discussion is meant to be more meaningful doesn’t mean it will always be serious.

“I mean, there’s no academic value to this show. I’m not purporting that what we decide means anything,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s a discussion show; it’s smart people saying interesting stuff on television. It’ll never work.”

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Craig Ferguson stakes a new claim in late night."