As James Corden winds down his eight-year tenure as host of The Late Late Show with a primetime special and final episode tonight (Thursday), the question arises:
Why aren't more people talking about this?
Certainly, it's a big deal on CBS, which is currently marking the occasion with a 20+ hour live countdown of special moments from the show on TikTok; bits in CBS primetime tonight featuring Corden announcing the start of shows like Young Sheldon and Ghosts; a 10:00 p.m. primetime special built around his popular Carpool Karaoke segment/series and a final episode of the show at 12:37 a.m. featuring Harry Styles and Will Ferrell as his last guests.
And yet, for critics like me, this feels less like a momentous departure and more like a footnote. Unlike David Letterman or Conan O'Brien, Corden leaves late night as an entertainer who may not be that beloved by fans of late night TV and who didn't really change the game much – despite creating some of the most popular segments-turned-TV shows in recent TV history.
"It's been a crazy eight years," Corden tells Adele in his final Carpool Karaoke, which was released Monday and has already racked up more than 11 million views. "In one sense, it feels like it's gone like that [snaps fingers]. In another sense, I feel like I don't really remember what life [was like before.]"
"I know that if I crash [the car], you'll keep it in the f-----g edit," Adele cracked, steering through Los Angeles traffic while they sang her hit Rolling in the Deep.
