The Late Late Show with James Corden

Production

Corden said he was "thrilled and honoured" and found it "hugely exciting ... to host such a prestigious show". CBS Entertainment Chairman Nina Tassler said in a statement that Corden is a warm, charming and original performer whose "diverse range of creative instincts and performance talent" make him a "rare entertainment force". Tassler cited Corden's work in such media as theatre, film and television, and called him "loved and respected" in all of them. The show continues to be filmed at CBS Television City in Los Angeles. Corden made a surprise guest appearance on predecessor Ferguson's programme on December 16, 2014, two days prior to Ferguson's last broadcast as host, during which the two briefly discussed Corden taking over the show. He also appeared on an episode hosted by Judd Apatow to job shadow, stating he wanted to "learn from his mistakes".

Unlike his predecessors, Corden's Late Late Show has a house band, nicknamed "Karen," which led by Reggie Watts who also acts as the shows announcer. Watts also performs as lead vocals, keyboards, beatboxing, and programmer. The other personnel in the band are Tim Young on lead guitars, Steve Scalfatti on keyboards, Hagar Ben Ari on bass, and Guillermo E. Brown on drums. The show's title sequence, which was supposed to be directed by J.J. Abrams, was filmed by the visual firm of Trollbäck + Company. Watts and the Late Late Show Band composed the theme song. According to a report in the Daily Mail: "Corden hopes the credits will show him riding a BMX bike around Los Angeles, with other on-screen talent joining him as he reaches the CBS studio." The show's executive producers are Rob Crabbe and Ben Winston. The final product being James Corden and Reggie Watts going around LA in a Low Rider, LED bike, and some graphic and light painting with a Pixelstick. Trollbäck + Company put this statement below the video: "James Corden and Reggie Watts put the LA LA back into Late Late in a series fun vignettes filmed around Los Angeles for the identity of the new CBS Late Late Show. James originally wanted JJ Abrams to film him and Reggie scored to a Mark Ronson track. We were of course honored to take JJ's place as he was a bit busy filming a blockbuster! We managed to shoot everything in one night with LED bikes, a Lowrider, and a Pixelstick setting an eclectic visual tone for this experimental new show."

While an opening monologue is a staple of the late night talk show genre, Corden suggested initially that as he is not a stand-up comedian, he would also be using alternatives to the traditional joke-heavy monologue. However, the show has retained the monologue though it is shorter and not as important an element as the monologue on other late night shows.

The show also uses an interview format similar to that of British chat show The Graham Norton Show, in which all of the night's guests appear on stage simultaneously. Guests do not walk on stage from the wings but emerge from the back of the studio and walk through the audience rows. As is more typical in British talk shows, the host sits to the left of the guests, a reversal of the traditional American layout. Corden also does not sit behind a desk, unlike other late night hosts, but in a swivel chair.

Episodes

Tom Hanks and Mila Kunis were Corden's first guests on March 23, 2015, for the debut episode featuring Corden and Hanks acting and singing their way through a retrospective of Hanks' career. Later, after a prompt by Hanks, Corden appeared to score a coup by getting Mila Kunis to admit that she and Ashton Kutcher are married, but a source later claimed she was merely joking. The episode scored 1.66 million viewers, the show's biggest Monday rating in more than three years.

First-run episodes aired every weeknight through the May 2015 sweeps period; then, beginning the week of May 25, the show scaled back its production schedule to four first-run episodes per week (differing from the previous iterations of the program, which produced Friday episodes, either the day of broadcast or farther in advance on the tape date of the Thursday edition), with the Friday episode consisting of a rebroadcast of a recent episode, as has become common with several other late-night talk shows (with the exception of The Late Show and The Tonight Show, which continue to produce first-run episodes on that night, and many airing on cable, which almost universally do not air episodes on Fridays at all). Even with Corden's debut week, Late Night with Seth Meyers still beat The Late Late Show in the ratings during the 12:35 a.m. time slot, with Meyers continuing to dominate that slot on a weekly basis.

The May 20, 2015 episode, which followed the finale of Late Show with David Letterman, was the highest rated episode of The Late Late Show in the history of the franchise with an audience of 4 million viewers and a rating of 2.5., despite starting 20 minutes late due to Letterman's show running over its scheduled end time. The episode featured Corden and Sting outside of the Ed Sullivan Theater singing "Every Breath You Take" in the show's cold open and a monologue with a Top Ten List among other tributes to Letterman.

Recurring segments

Carpool Karaoke, a segment in which James and musical guests sing along to their songs whilst driving on a planned route usually in Los Angeles. Corden explained that the segment was inspired by a Gavin & Stacey-themed sketch he had participated in for the British charity television special Red Nose Day 2011, in which he sang along with George Michael in a car, stating that "Ben Winston and I always thought there was something very joyful about someone very, very famous singing their songs in an ordinary situation. We just had this idea: Los Angeles, traffic, the carpool lane — maybe this is something we could pull off." The segments, which have featured artists such as Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, Stevie Wonder, One Direction, Adele, Demi Lovato, Mariah Carey, Sia, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, have proven popular as viral videos on the Late Late Show's YouTube channel. A Carpool Karaoke segment featuring Adele reached 42 million views within 5 days, making it the most viral video originating from a late night program since 2013. The Adele segment has received over 146 million views as of January 2017. A segment featuring the then First Lady Michelle Obama (eventually joined by Missy Elliot singing "This is For My Girls") was released on July 20, 2016, and has reached over 52 million views as of January 2017. On March 29, 2016, CBS aired a primetime special featuring highlights of the segment, and a new edition with Jennifer Lopez. The special would win a 2016 Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special.

The popularity of the segment on the internet led to two different series being produced. In July 2016, it was announced that Apple Music would distribute a series based on Corden's Carpool Karaoke to be titled Carpool Karaoke: The Series. The decision came after Spike had announced plans to air a series inspired by the section, titled "Caraoke Showdown", to be hosted by Craig Robinson.

Drop the Mic: Corden and one or more guests trade insults in a (scripted) rap battle. Guests who participated include David Schwimmer, Rebel Wilson, Cara Delevingne, Dave Franco, Kevin Hart, and Anne Hathaway. In August 2016, TBS ordered a version of Drop the Mic from CBS as a series to premiere in 2017, with Corden, Ben Winston, and Jensen Karp as producers.

Take a Break: James pretends to do the job of someone in an industry, subsequently "giving them a break." During this segment, James has worked at LensCrafters and Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, as well as a model on The Price Is Right and the Mayor of Los Angeles, among other jobs.

Crosswalk the Musical: James and guests hold flash mob-style performances of songs from musicals in the middle of a crosswalk when cars stop at it.

Talking Mentalist: Over the summer of 2015, where CBS had aired reruns of its drama programming as a lead-in to The Late Late Show to lead up towards the premiere of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, several episodes opened with Talking Mentalist—a parody of companion "after-shows" such as Talking Dead in which James and his guests would discuss the rerun of The Mentalist that had just aired. After CBS followed suit, the sketch was reprised as Talking Hawaii Five-0, which featured a guest appearance by Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick.

Celebrity Noses: A recurring sketch that purports to feature a game involving the noses of celebrities, but it is stalled by various issues that eventually cause James to run out of time.

Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts: James and that night's guests join in on a game that involves a roundtable question-and-answer portion. Both of them have the option to answer a really embarrassing, self-deprecating, or controversial question - however, should they choose to not answer the question, they will have to eat various forms of disgusting food, ranging from small insects, bodily fluids, or animal offal or organs.

Broadcast

In the UK and Ireland since 2016 the show airs on Sky’s ‘On Demand’ service as well as Now TV with each episode available the day after its US broadcast. Sky Q customers also get to watch some content from the show in the 'Online Video' section.

In Canada, The Late Late Show with James Corden is aired by CTV in simulcast with CBS. The program formerly aired on sister network CTV Two, but moved to the main CTV network on February 8, 2016, switching with Late Night with Seth Meyers.

In Australia, the series was purchased by CBS's Australian partner Network Ten. It premiered on Network Ten's sister network Eleven on May 24, 2015, on a seven-day-a-week airing schedule to catch up with the current run through the northern hemisphere summer (by September and the start of the new American television season it had caught up and now airs on a day-delay with repeats at weekends); CBS holds a 1/3 stake in Eleven.

In France the show airs at 11:35pm every Monday to Friday on MCM.

In New Zealand the show began to air on state-owned broadcaster TVNZ's channel Duke, from March 20, 2016.

In Asia, the show premiered on August 3, 2015, on RTL CBS Entertainment. It broadcasts on weekday nights following The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

In Germany, the show airs on broadcaster RTL’s online service RTL II You since its establishment in May 2016.