Puppets take over The Late Late Show’s 1000th episode

19 12 2009

If you’re not already watching the fantastic Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, you’re really missing out on something. Without question the funniest and sometimes quirkiest late night show out there, the show tends to fly under the radar and maybe because of that, gets away with trying some things that would never fly on any other show.

Take, for example, the show’s 1000th episode. The whole show was a celebration WITHOUT its host. That’s not to say Craig wasn’t involved but the show itself was hosted by a hand-puppet (voiced and performed by Craig), Wavey the Crocodile, and featured a puppet Sean Connery, shark puppet Aquaman, and interviews with Kristen Bell, Maria Bello and Jason Schwartzman (all conducted by Wavey). The whole show ended with Wavey the Crocodile lip-synching to James Taylor’s You’ve Got a Friend while surrounded by some of the re-occurring sketch characters (and puppets) from the show. Craig is actually visible here…but he’s dressed up as his character-version of Prince Charles. Seriously awesome and out there stuff.

But perhaps the best moment was when Jason Segel (along with Nathan Danforth and The Broken West) came on to perform his song, Dracula’s Lament, from his film Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Like in the film, it’s performed via a puppet Dracula…and to be clear, this is one of the best things I’ve ever seen on a TV talk show. It’s not often you see something quite this original and off-the-wall on network TV and for that, I thank you Mr. Ferguson (and Mr. Segel). Take a look at the awesomeness for yourself:

All hail Craig, Jason and all the puppets!





Classic Movies in the Public Domain!

9 09 2009

So how a giant movie fan like me didn’t know about this, I can’t begin to guess…but apparently the classic movies that have fallen into the public domain (i.e. various copyrights were not renewed and so ownership fell into the creative commons) are slowly being pulled together into one online archive for streaming and downloading! Huzzah!

Most of the currently available movies are silent films or very early ‘talkies’ but there are some ’40s gems in there too…for instance one of my all-time favourite ‘weepies’ Penny Serenade (1941), starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. It’s an unabashedly sentimental romantic drama that often gets passed over in modern lists of both actors top works but contains, in my humble opinion, some of their very best performances. Grant was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role and Dunne considered it to be the film closest to her heart.

Penny Serenade

Other favourites:

The 39 Steps (1935) – early Hitchcock
The Lady Vanishes (1938) – one of my all-time fave Hitchcock pics
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946)








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