It’s easy to pick on James Corden. For whatever reason, the former Gavin and Stacey star has become, over the past decade or so, one of the most polarising and ridiculed TV personalities the world over. The public will take any excuse to dig at him. His widely publicised restaurant ban over alleged rudeness to staff. His execrable singing turns in screen musicals like Cats, Cinderella, or The Prom. His skin-crawling argument with Patrick Stewart onstage at the 2010 Glamour Awards. When, in 2015, Corden moved out to LA to front his own CBS talk series – taking over The Late Late Show from Scottish-American comic Craig Ferguson – the launch was met with a healthy dollop of scepticism. (“Britain’s loss is America’s loss also,” quipped the comedian Stewart Lee.) And yet, eight years and some 1,200 episodes later, few could say it was the wrong call.
In the early hours of Friday morning, Corden bowed out of his Late Late Show role for good. Reports suggested that he had turned down a deal worth $40m to renew his contract; Corden has cited a desire to move back to London and spend more time with his family as the motivating factor behind his decision. The finale pretty much encapsulated everything his talk show had become known for. There were big-name guests: Will Ferrell, who took a sledgehammer to Corden’s now-defunct desk, series favourite Harry Styles, Tom Cruise, a cadre of Corden’s late-night competitors, and even Joe Biden. There was singing. There was dancing. There was a moment of eating animal testicles. Towards the end of the show, Corden addressed his audience with candour, reflecting on a world that had changed substantially over the past eight years.
