James Corden’s reign of terror is almost at an end. Soon, people will be able to cross the street near CBS Television City without a musical breaking out, or visit Liverpool without wandering into a Beatle’s reveries of the past. The carpool lane? Soon to be un-karaoked. Deadline is reporting that James Corden will depart The Late Late Show ahead of summer 2023. “It’s been it’s a really hard decision to leave because I’m so immensely proud of the show. I’m thrilled to be extending,” Corden said. “I always thought I’d do it for five years and then leave, and then I stayed on. I’ve really been thinking about it for a long time, thinking whether there might be one more adventure.” The senioritis has started to show on The Late Late Show, with a very silly and give-no-fucks attitude to the opening monologue. That and the open (playful) disrespect for senior VP of late night West Coast (there is no junior) Nick Bernstein made it seem as if Corden’s days on the program were numbered. “My bosses here at CBS have been incredibly supportive and extraordinarily patient with me while I made this decision,” Corden said. He doesn’t know if he’s going back to England when his Late Late gig is over, nor does CBS have a replacement for him lined up at this time.
Updated 8:11 p.m.:
Corden took time out of his Thursday night monologue to discuss his last year of Late Late Show. After getting an unexpected pop from the audience for announcing that he’d signed on to extend his contract, he had to explain that his extension was only for a year. “When I started this journey, it was always going to be just that. It was going to be a journey, an adventure,” he said. “I never saw it as my final destination, you know?” We do know, because Final Destination, ironically, will never end.
