FWIW, In what's essentially a 40-42 minute show, Ferguson splits the time almost in half between guests and regular bits. However, the act structure is such that there's twice as many non-guest segments (cold open, monologue, sketch/e-mail, close) and usually two conversation segments. So you have usually three segments and three commercial breaks before a guest shows up. So I can clearly see why you'd think the guests were jammed in. You've watched for half an hour and seen 60 percent of the commercials.
That said, I think the main difference compared to Letterman or Conan is the additional commercial break in the front half of the show. They'll usually have a longer first segment and segue between the monologue and the first desk chat/comedy bit. Then their first break happens around the same time Ferguson takes his second break, and the 11:30 folks come back with their comedy bit/Top Ten List/I'm the new Oprah segment. I've put too much thought into this... So, if I were you, I'd probably warm up the DVR and skip the first half of Ferguson. David ________________________________ From: Dave Sikula <dsik...@yahoo.com> To: TVorNotTV <tvornottv@googlegroups.com> Sent: Tue, December 8, 2009 2:15:34 AM Subject: [TV orNotTV] Re: Leno's First 12 Weeks On Dec 7, 2:14 pm, David Bruggeman <bru...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Craig Ferguson, SCG,* only has guests on that he gives a s*&t about as well. > He says as much early in this segment from "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me" > > http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5449674 > > This wasn't always so with Craig, and probably wasn't with Stewart. I think Ferguson has the most interesting conversations on the talk show circuit (Stewart's probably the best interviewer), but the problem for me continues to be the puppets, the skits, and the jamming of the guests into (seemingly) the last 10-15 minutes of the show. What's frustrating is somebody like Charlie Rose, who gets great guests, but has no clue of how to interview them. The Robin Williams show last week was pregnant with possibility, and Rose kept driving it into the ditch. It makes me appreciate Carson and Cavett (when he had a really good guest) even more. --Dave Sikula -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
