Today's Entertainment

Page 2 March 23 - 29, 2015 James Corden stays up 'Late Late' as new CBS host By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it Late-night television has had its share of changes lately, and here comes the next one. Just over a year after Seth Meyers took over NBC's "Late Night," he's getting a new rival in the time slot, but a very friendly competitor: Soon after being named Craig Ferguson's CBS successor, British talent James Corden appeared on Meyers' program in what turned out to be a mutual-admiration-fest. "The Late Late Show With James Corden" has its premiere Monday, March 23 (which technically is Tuesday, March 24, fol - lowing the Monday "Late Show With David Letter- man"). "There's nothing more creative I think I'll ever do in my career than to try make an hour of television every day," the cherubic Corden says. "I'm from High Wycombe, which you've never heard of, in Buckinghamshire, and there is just no rhyme or reason why I should be given the opportunity to host a late-night talk show and talk to America every night and hopefully try and make them smile before — or more like whilst — they fall asleep." A multimedia star in his native England, also encompassing his award-winning work on the TV sitcom "Gavin & Stacey," Corden already has been a presence in America through his work on Broadway (in "One Man, Two Guv- nors," which he brought across the Atlantic and earned a Tony Award for) and in movies ("Into the Woods," "Begin Again"). As he launches his new mission for CBS, he'll be getting first-week help from scheduled guests in- cluding Tom Hanks, Kerry Washington ("Scandal"), Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart. "I keep coming back to this word 'warmth,"' Corden reflects. "I really feel like in this current climate in this time, we want to make a warm show, a show that never feels spiky. And because so much of what you see and read and are polluted by is not pleasant right now, I feel like if we can make a show that just sort of reaches out to people, really, and reminds that there are still wonderful things ... it is still great that we could do that." As for the hour's nightly structure, though, that may not be defined until "The Late Late Show With James Corden" hits the air — or even for some time after that. "There's no strict for- mat right now," confirms Rob Crabbe ("The To- night Show Starring Jim- my Fallon"), an executive producer of the program along with Ben Winston ("The X Factor UK"). "James is not a tradition- al stand-up comedian. Straightforward joke-tell- ing is not something that he does a ton of, so we are going to sort of consider other paths besides the traditional monologue. "We want to be guest-focused," adds Crabbe. "Being the host of this great party at 12:30 (a.m.), you want to have your guests have the best time possible. In summa- ry, we're still figuring it out." Two police detectives interrogate a drug suspect under heat lamps in an otherwise dark room. Dissatisfied with the answers they're getting, one shoves his cigar in the man's eye. As the perp wails in agony, the background begins to shift and rise to reveal it's actually a garage door that's part of a garage and home belonging to a 60-ish couple who are coming home from a day of shopping, the two cops are their aspiring filmmaker sons, and the perp is their Latino gardener. As the boys admonish the parents for ruining their movie scene, the folks query where all their stuff went in the makeshift studio. That opening segment gives a pretty good idea what to expect from Comedy Central's latest foray into scripted comedy, "Big Time in Hollywood, FL," premiering Wednesday, March 25. The half-hour series stars Alex Anfanger and Lenny Jacobson as Jack and Ben, two delusional twentysomethings who fancy themselves as the next important voices in cinema as they live off Mom and Dad (Kathy Baker, Stephen Tobolowsky) in their South Florida home. The only trouble is, they lack any movie-making talent whatsoever though they remain fervent in pursuing their dream. And with scenes like the opener, it's no surprise that the folks would like their progeny to grow up, become men and move out – and fast. "Big Time" is the brainchild of co-creators and executive producers Anfanger and Dan Schimpf, former NYU film students who pitched the show to Comedy Central fresh off their success with the Web series "Next Time on Lonny." And just like Ben and Jack, the two pals moved in to the Los Angeles home of Anfanger's parents to write it. "It definitely was a reflection of how we felt about ourselves," says Anfanger with a laugh, "except for the fact that Ben and Jack have no perception of how terrible they are. They're just these delusional, inflated-ego, maniacal brothers. "(The series) is obviously a really perverted version of what was around us," he continues. "Like, I'm very close with my parents, so it's kind of nothing like my character, who we created this alternate version of, essentially. But yeah, it would pull kind of from experience. We thought it would be fun to lay that as a foundation for the world that we wanted to create." Baker, who plays the mom, was impressed with how two guys in their late 20s could ably write dialog for a mature married couple. "These 28-year-old guys, who aren't married, would write a funny, believable, loving, sometimes contentious real marriage, but within the heightened realism of this whole show," she says. "But they were grounded. I think it was important for them to have this relationship, too, this marriage. I think they liked having that relationship to counterbalance all the craziness of the sons. They're just very skilled and very funny." BY GEORGE DICKIE Clueless wannabe filmmakers look to hit the 'Big Time' Alex Anfanger (left) and Lenny Jacobson "The Late Late Show With James Corden" premieres Monday on CBS.

• Cover