James Corden Concludes The Late Late Shows Week In London After 1M Apply For Tickets
Some 1 million Brits applied for tickets to watch The Late Late Show with James Corden, which has ju..
Some 1 million Brits applied for tickets to watch The Late Late Show with James Corden, which has just finished a successful week in London, with Corden and exec producers Ben Winston and Rob Crabbe telling Deadline how much fun the run in the British capital has been.
No surprise, really, when the Gavin & Stacey creator was able to persuade Paul McCartney to do a turn in Carpool Karaoke. Corden was evidently buzzing to share his motor with the former Beatle and it paid off with an incredibly sweet moment during a Let It Be singalong before a raucous show in a tiny pub in Liverpool.
Corden told Deadline that he really wished he would have been able to take the show, which was filmed at Central Hall in Westminster, yards from the UKs Parliament, to another British city. However, scoring A-list guests would have been more difficult if it moved out of London.
There was no doubt that Corden was able to get A-listers to turn up to the historic venue, which has previously hosted historic speeches from Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Winston Churchill. This week has seen the likes of Cher play Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts, Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner break out her favorite Emimen bars and Dave Grohl turned up with his band Foo Fighters before telling his own McCartney-meets-Taylor Swift anecdote.
Ben Winston and Rob Crabbe, executive producers of the show were also buzzing. “Bringing the show to London has been the most wonderful experience for us all,” Crabbe told Deadline, while Winston added, “We really tried to put on a big, ambitious, spectacle of an entertainment and variety show every night, that everybody would enjoy. For us, its been an unforgettable week.”
This is the second time that Corden has filmed the nightly talkshow in London; he came to the British capital this time last year amid serious terror concerns following a series of attacks.
Corden, who is set to film the 13th season of his Sky One entertainment format A League Of Their Own while he is in the country, was once again chuffed to be back in the UK. In addition to making jokes about fried candy bars and the royal wedding, the West Ham fan got to hang out with the England football team. “Its a genuine honor to bring our show back to London for a second year,” he said. “I cant tell you how great it feels to be at home.”
But despite being back in his homeland, the news back home did force him to make a desperate plea to help people impacted by Donald Trumps immigration policies. “Being away from America…hasnt kept any of us from paying attention to what is going on…right now,” he said. “Im sure you have seen these images of families being forcibly separated at the U.S./Mexico border. Immigrant children laying in cages is nothing short of horrific. I dont think this is an American political issue. I think this is simply a human decency issue.”
Corden also briefly discussed with Deadline the seismic changes going on in the U.S. media, talking about the potential Fox and Disney merger as well as CBS and Viacoms own dalliances (although he said that he didnt expect that to impact his own show much) as well last years Skirball fire that burnt down part of Rupert Murdochs Bel-Air mansion and forced Corden and his family to also evacuate “slowly”.
The show, which is produced by CBS TV Studios and Fulwell 73, has aired on CBS all week as per normal, but it has also aired in a primetime slot on British pay-TV channel Sky One, which has co-funded the trip, which has brought with it its own logistical challenges. It has also aired in 155 countries around the world and one wonders whether Corden and his team will make this an annual tradition.
