After a decade behind the desk, Craig Ferguson is set to depart CBS’s 12:35 am program, The Late Late Show, in December. After a picture appeared on Twitter of Joel McHale having drinks with CBS boss Les Moonves, blogs like Complex and Uproxx have begun to speculate that McHale is the first choice for the job, and they’re probably right.
Here are some reasons Joel McHale is near the top of CBS’s list:
He’s one of the most experienced TV hosts going, having anchored E!’s The Soup since 2004.
His schedule is now free with Community having been canceled by NBC last week, and that also means he’s contractually available for the job.
There are few other clear frontrunners for the position. CBS’s shortlist reportedly includes McHale, Michael Ian Black, Aisha Tyler, Amy Schumer, Jason Jones, and John Hodgman, with Norm Macdonald having a lot of support on Twitter and CBS denying being in talks with Chelsea Handler. McHale has far more experience hosting a show than anyone on that list and has a bigger built-in audience from being on The Soup and Community for years.
McHale is coming off of a high-profile performance as host of the White House Correspondents Dinner.
Despite all the rumors online, CBS has yet to make a decision about who’s getting the job, but you can be sure McHale’s at the top of their list.
