The best show you’re (probably) not watching

Okay, this is a two-fer. TWO shows you’re probably not watching, and they both happen to be on CBS.

This past Sunday at 9am, I was watching CBS Sunday Morning as is my Sunday morning ritual. I don’t know what the ratings are on this show, but in my opinion, not as many people know about this program as they should. If you’re a fan of Pop Culture as I am, it’s important to keep up on a little bit of everything, and after watching it religiously every Sunday for close to 10 years, I can tell you, it’s the BEST way to spend a Sunday morning.

Sundays are important to me. I sit and have my morning coffee, my Sunday paper, and flip on CBS Sunday Morning to learn what’s going on in the world. News, Art, Music, Entertainment, Everything Else. It’s an exceptional 90-minute news program, leisurely-paced, and packed with mostly “good” news, celebrity stories, and amusing anecdotes. Think of it as 60 Minutes, lighter and longer.

An example of just some of their stories they covered this past weekend: Sunday Morning went behind-the-scenes at the National Enquirer (the John Edwards affair has brought the gossip rag into the national spotlight). They also did stories on the success of China’s economy, 3D sidewalk artist Julian Beever, the passing of western wear entrepreneur Jack Weil, a review of Pineapple Express, and a cow-pie tossing contest in Beaver, Oklahoma (you can’t make this stuff up). This was a very typical weekend. 

One of their segments was a shameless plug for their CBS late night talk show host Craig Ferguson. The segment discussed his life, his career as a comedian, his stint on the Drew Carey show, his recent American citizenship, right up to his present job as the host of the Late Late Show.

I’ve never seen the Late Late Show before, but after watching their segment, and hearing Ferguson’s lush Scottish Brogue (I’m a total sucker for a handsome man with an accent), I decided to TiVo it and check it out. No question about it, I’ve been missing out!

Ferguson’s monologues are as manic as they are genius and entirely unscripted—damned brave in today’s entertainment field—it’s a hysterical ride. Since summer began, I’ve been recording and watching a number of different types of shows including late night, and this beats all of them. Jay Leno may have the best guests (Conan has been surprisingly awful), but Ferguson has the closest thing to a perfect talk show since Johnny Carson went off the air. Of course, I’m judging this based on only two viewings, so my opinion may change somewhat over time. Of what I saw, Ferguson’s wry sense of humor, often mugging at the camera, winking to a knowing audience he expects to be “in” on the joke, his occasional double-entendres, completely appeals to me. I’m hooked. I’ll even sit through the music segments to get to the end to hear Ferguson tell us “What We Learned Tonight”.

So, even though these shows are on CBS, check them out! You might be as pleasantly surprised as I was!