Who is James Corden? Meet the (reported) new ‘Late Late Show’ host

CBS is just full of surprises today, aren’t they? Typically, we view them as the most conservative network on TV, but if the report from The Wrap about them hiring James Corden to replace Craig Ferguson on “The Late Late Show” turns out to be true, then this is one of the most surprising moves that they have made in a very long time.

For one, he is not a known late-night commodity in America. Corden boasts a large Twitter following of over four million, but he is mostly known for his work on British programs than anything across the shore. He’ll be featured next in the Kiera Knightley project “Begin Again,” so you may get a chance to understand more of his work there.

In terms of comedy, we’d put his skill set closer to Jimmy Fallon than anyone else on network late-night right now. He’s known mostly for his sketch work, and while we do not doubt his ability to do traditional monologues, we don’t necessarily think of that as his strength. Regardless, he’s going to have a hard time replacing Craig, who was weird, quirky, and an aberration for CBS. He also has some of the most loyal fans around, and we’re very interested to see what he and his robot sidekick Geoff decide to do from here.

We imagine that we will see the new “Late Late Show” premiere in early 2014, probably before even the new “Late Show” featuring Stephen Colbert. Both are risks for CBS, given that Stephen has so rarely done television that is outside of his Comedy Central persona.

What do you think about the selection, and will you give Corden a chance as the new host? Let us know your thoughts now with a comment, and head over here to get further updates on everything we cover via our newsletter.

Photo: CBS