Why James Corden Left The Late Late Show

Late-night television is in a period of transition, as broadcast TV experiences its own growing pains, and the landscape of the popular genre looks a lot different than it did just a few short years ago. Case in point, James Corden's decision to leave "The Late Late Show" back in 2023 shocked most casual viewers, as the English comedian had become a familiar face on nightly CBS programming since sitting down behind that desk in 2015. He was part of the "Late Night Resurgence" touted by the entertainment press during the mid-2010's and Corden's departure from "The Late Late Show" shows how much the format has changed in that near decade on the air. In essence, a lot of those changes are what likely caused him to close up shop.

Corden let "The Late Late Show" staff know his final curtain call would come in 2023, and at the time, production staff was relieved to have learned of the situation with a year of lead time, according to E! Online. Back then, people just assumed that the late night host would sign another contract extension with CBS and remain on the air for another five years or so, this all followed the patterns of other high-profile exits from these late show slots from people like Jay Leno, David Letterman, and even Craig Ferguson, the man that Corden effectively replaced in public memory. In the end, the comedian says that time with his family came calling, when that kind of talk starts to bubble up in other reporting, the writing is largely on the wall.

Still, CBS wanted Corden to stay on as long as he liked, and said as much in their statements thanking him for his tenure with "The Late Late Show," with former CBS President George Cheeks lavishing praise on the comedian when the announcement of his departure came through! In the same E! Online piece, his statement is quoted: "In my two years at CBS, I've had the privilege to see James' creative genius up close and experience his valuable partnership with CBS, both as a performer and a producer," Cheeks began. "We wish he could stay longer, but we are very proud he made CBS his American home and that this partnership will extend one more season on 'The Late Late Show.'"

2014 saw Craig Ferguson leave "The Late Late Show" and an immediate void presented itself, as the former host had a kind of cult following that gives birth to the best late night television, his fans were pretty loyal and he offered some nuance along with the funny bits needed to make this kind of programming work. Corden was selected as a sort of "zag" at the time, because CBS eschewed selecting any United States-based comedians and picked a relative newcomer for American audiences. The gamble ended up paying off with awards and another devoted following tuning in for staples like "Carpool Karaoke."

In the comedian's own words, this was all getting to be a bit of a strain on him and his family, so he decided to step away, and Corden told Drew Barrymore that a single interaction with his son made the choice a no-brainer. The comedian recalled:

"One day I was filming on a Sunday and I came downstairs, it was about 6 a.m. and my son, who was 10 at the time, was sat on the stairs and he said, 'Are you working today?' and I said, 'I am,' and he said, 'I thought, well it's Sunday,' and I said, 'I know, buddy, but this schedule's just all over the place. We just got to get it done because we only have a tiny amount of time before we have to go back and do the show,' and his face just kind of dropped."

Corden continued, "I got in the car and I called my wife Jules and I said, 'I've realized, best case scenario, we have six more summers where Max even remotely wants to be around us and I cannot waste another one.'"

Throughout Corden's tenure, the tone and scope of late-night television in the United States shifted in profound ways. Much like YouTube's rise, the motivation to top what you had made before began to creep into every segment among heavy-hitters like Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert. "Carpool Karaoke" is cool, but "The Late Late Show" had to consistently come up with new premises and guests trying to keep up. Then, largely because of Corden's show and "The Tonight Show's" memorable musical performances, YouTube clips (and then TikTok) took precedence over an entire show. Once you're in the grips of an algorithm, it's basically curtains; all it takes is a stiff wind to have people wondering, "What went wrong here?"

The late-night landscape is so unstable that Corden's effective replacement, Taylor Tomlinson, who hosts the delightful "After Midnight" on CBS, just decided to leave that program this year. "After Midnight" was an interesting attempt to fill that late night slot with something other than the standard desk show that most of the standard-bearers of the genre made into the default, and has become a target of subversion for some of the better late night efforts of the last decade like Eric Andre over at Adult Swim. But, it looks from the outside like Corden kind of got out just before the walls of the dam gave up. Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel are still going for now, but even they're starting to weigh their options.

Family has to come first, and if it seems to coincide with the tides changing all over entertainment, that's an added bonus for the talent involved. Still, a lot of viewers are left wondering what's going to replace a part of their daily routine now that a popular personality has stepped away. Funny enough, it's the exact same scenario fans of Ferguson found themselves staring up at in 2014. Maybe lightning will strike twice? Hopefully so, because the late-night genre needs a shot in the arm if it's going to stick around for another decade.