Whatever bottomless post Late Late Show vortex that swallowed up Craig Kilborn (sorry, The Kilborn File) has been nimbly avoided by fellow former 12:35 regular Craig Ferguson. The 53-year-old Scotsman hasn’t just survived but thrived outside of LLS-land, snapping up gigs like hosting Celebrity Name Game and Join or Die with Craig Ferguson to keep himself busy. Now he’s adding to his résumé with an NBC project that we’re still trying to decipher.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ferguson has been chosen to come aboard a “game show/comedy hybrid pilot.” It’s sort of a show within a show where there are actual game show activities, but wrapped in a workplace comedy about the whole enterprise. Let’s meet Toby, Craig Ferguson’s alter-ego for the combo-comedy.
Ferguson will take on the role of Toby, the host of the game show within the show, and a successful stand-up comedian. His career as an actor stalled and he’s turning to the game show to take his career to the next level. A nice guy on-camera, he struggles off-camera with feeling too good for his job and not good enough at it.
Does Ferguson strike you as a Toby? It might take a bit for our brains to wrap around the Crunch Time concept, but Ferguson as a guy named “Toby” might take even longer.
The series comes from My Boys creator Betsy Thomas. She’s not the only player from the former TBS sitcom signing up for the hybrid offering. Kyle Howard and Kellee Stewart will both be in the mix too. The show still has to fill the showrunner-within-the-show spot, so feel free to pitch your casting suggestions in the comments.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)