Craig Ferguson, the Scotland-born comic who hosted The Late Late Show on CBS from 2005 to 2014, has returned to television with a five-part documentary series on CNN called American On Purpose.
Ferguson took a deconstructionist, David Letterman-type approach to The Late Late Show. Monologues weren't a string of topical jokes, but became loose one-way conversations about whatever Ferguson was thinking and feeling. He didn't have a sidekick, so he invented one — or had someone invent one: a comedy robot.
Partway through the show's run, in 2008, Ferguson applied for United States citizenship, passed the test and became a U.S. citizen. He filmed that process and showed it on his program, but didn't leave the idea there. In 2009, he wrote a memoir, called American on Purpose. His CNN documentary series has the same name, and features Ferguson traveling the country and speaking to Americans about ... America.
Even though Ferguson is a comedian by profession, he's not doing this series just for laughs — well, not just for laughs. He retains his goofy sense of humor, and his appetite for the unpredictable and the uncontrollable, like interviewing tourists in the middle of Times Square.
But he's there to say something, and to hear what other people have to say, on the occasion of our country approaching its 250th anniversary. One of the questions he asks is about the American Dream, which I found fascinating as a TV historian. More than 50 years ago, keyed to the American bicentennial, PBS presented a wonderful series called The Great American Dream Machine, asking the very same question.
In another sequence, Ferguson burrows into the origins and intentions of our country's founding documents. In Philadelphia, he gathers some historians and actors who portray Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, to stand over historical documents and discuss them.
The show's discussion of freedom of speech is timely right now, and not only because of our country's impending anniversary. If the merger deal goes through between Warner Bros., which owns CNN, and Paramount, which owns CBS — it's already been approved by the Department of Justice — the content of future CNN programming may be adversely affected.
CBS News management already has weakened the legacy and integrity of 60 Minutes. Many media insiders fear CNN may be similarly targeted with editorial interference if the merger is finalized. If that happens, a show like Craig Ferguson: American On Purpose may soon be an endangered species on CNN. Ironically, it may even be … history.
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