James Corden is set to end his tenure as host of The Late Late Show on CBS.
Corden, who has hosted the show since 2015, has signed a one-year contract extension that will take him through the 2022-23 season. He’ll exit the show next year after eight years as host and will discuss the decision in his monologue on Thursday’s show.
Corden was best known in the U.S. as the co-creator of the BBC’s Gavin & Stacey and for his role in the film version of Into the Woods before he took over the 12:35 a.m. show from Craig Ferguson. He introduced signature segments including “Carpool Karaoke,” “Drop the Mic” and “Crosswalk Musical” — the first two of which spawned their own standalone series on Apple and TBS.
He has also hosted the Grammy and Tony awards and CBS’ competition show The World’s Best. Corden is a partner (along with Late Late Show EP Ben Winston) in production company Fulwell 73.
“Seven years ago, James Corden came to the U.S. and took television by storm, with huge creative and comedic swings that resonated in a big way with viewers on-air and online,” said CBS president and CEO George Cheeks in a statement. “From ‘Crosswalk the Musical’ to the legendary ‘Carpool Karaoke,’ and every unique comedy segment he introduced, James has truly reimagined many elements of the late night format. He has also been the consummate network showman, entertaining audiences from his nightly perch at Television City as well as the Tony and Grammy stage.
“In my two years at CBS, I’ve had the privilege to see James’ creative genius up close and experience his valuable partnership with CBS, both as a performer and a producer. We wish he could stay longer, but we are very proud he made CBS his American home and that this partnership will extend one more season on The Late Late Show.”
Corden got the Late Late Show job after wowing then-CBS chief Les Moonves (who saw Corden perform in the play One Man, Two Guvnors) and entertainment president Nina Tassler with a pitch for his take on the late-night format in 2014. Tassler described his comedy style at the time as “a cross between Fred Astaire and Jack Black.”
Corden is the fourth host of The Late Late Show, following Tom Snyder, Craig Kilborn and Ferguson. Only Ferguson (nine years) has held the job longer.
Deadline first reported the news.
Source: Hollywood
