‘Late Late Show” host Craig Ferguson says he has no ambitions to succeed his boss, David Letterman.
And after Conan O’Brien’s “Tonight Show” flameout, that might be a wise career path.
“I’ve kind of stayed away from that kind of [succession talk] after watching the terrible f- – -ing mess they made over there at NBC,” says Ferguson, making his big-screen voiceover debut in the animated “How to Train Your Dragon.”
Ferguson says he doesn’t even have much contact with Letterman, whose production company, Worldwide Pants, produces “Late Late Show.”
“I think he’s good. I don’t talk to Dave that much,” he says. “He’s in New York and I’m in LA. If I’m talking to Dave, there’s usually a commercial break in-between.”
Ferguson, 47, marked five years as host of “Late Late Show” on CBS in January, the same month that saw Jay Leno reclaim the “Tonight Show” when O’Brien was canned after seven months.
“I think the [NBC] situation was a triumph of terrible f- – -ing management, the same middle management jerks that brought down the car companies and banks not thinking it through,” he says. “I don’t think it was the fault of Jay or Conan.”
While Ferguson managed to remain above the Jay-Conan fray, he knows he’s considered a “late-night guy,” but just shrugs it off.
“I’m just happy to get away with this for a bit longer,” he says. “At a certain point I’m going to say something that’s gonna p- – – them off and they’ll fire me, and at that point I’ll try to think of what my future looks like.”
Right now, Ferguson is psyched about his role as Gobber, a Scottish blacksmith and “Dragon Training Instructor” in “How to Train Your Dragon,” which opens Friday.
The Dreamworks movie centers around a Viking teenager, Hiccup, who befriends an injured dragon.
“I think Gobber is all you would hope for in a high school coach, except he’s maybe a little tougher on the kids than the parents would be comfortable with,” says Ferguson.
(Source: NYPost.com)
