Who Should Replace James Corden on The Late Late Show?

After eight and a half years, James Corden will finally be getting out of the Carpool Karaoke game. On Thursday, The Late Late Show host announced that he will host the late-night series for just one more year, stepping away for good before summer 2023. 

“It’s been it’s a really hard decision to leave because I’m so immensely proud of the show,” Corden told Deadline. “I’m thrilled to be extending [for a year]. 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.”

Now that Corden has announced his departure, it’s time to ponder an age-old question: Who should replace him? Late-night changeovers can be a fraught process; just ask Conan O’Brien who was infamously ousted as Jay Leno's successor after just over seven months of hosting The Tonight Show. But with Corden making a clearly voluntary exit, and plenty of solid talent waiting in the wings, The Late Late Show’s transition will hopefully be a lot less fraught. Here are a few comedians we’d like to see replace Corden: 

The veteran comic is an obvious choice for the gig. With decades of comedy experience under his belt—just check out his multiple acclaimed Comedy Central specials—plus the political bona fides to take on the current events aspect of the gig, given his many years serving as a correspondent on The Daily Show, Woods would be a wonderful successor to Corden. His dry and brutally honest takes about hot topics in American politics, from critical race theory to Black History Month, delight as much as they inform, and appearances on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show prove he can banter with the best of them. Given how caucasian the late-night landscape has been historically, Wood would be a welcome alternative to the homogeny of the scene. If Wood isn’t up to the job, his fellow Daily Show correspondent Ronny Chieng, who recently released a new stand-up special, Speakeasy, on Netflix, would be another great option.

Ruffin has already been challenging the late-night status quo with her late-night program The Amber Ruffin Show on Peacock. If she can finagle her way out of her contract with NBC, she could be a great replacement for Corden. As a Black woman in the overwhelmingly white late-night industry, Ruffin’s fresh and much-needed perspective on current events already allows her to stand out from the pack, with her show earning an Emmy nomination for outstanding writing for a variety series in 2021 for its debut season. And like Corden, Ruffin is a charmer who often has a song in her heart, unafraid to engage in a silly, musical bit. 

If CBS really wanted to shake things up, they’d snatch the iconic Ziwe from her singular late-night program on Showtime, Ziwe, and give her the larger platform she’s hurtling toward. (Showtime, for the record, is in the same corporate family as CBS, which might make such a promotion easier.) Given her no-holds-barred interview style, the corporate brass might think twice about about taking that risk—but you’d have to admit that handing Ziwe the reins would make the CBS somewhat-softball late-night show more exciting to watch. 

Before coming to CBS, Corden broke out as a theater star; his biggest hit as a late-night host has been creating Carpool Karaoke, a musical franchise that’s evolved from Late Late Show staple to its own series. CBS is probably keen to keep that song-and-dance man energy on its roster to balance out the more politically-minded Colbert, whose Late Show airs right before The Late Late Show. Perhaps they’ll reach out to other Tony-award-winning actors like Daveed Diggs or James Monroe Iglehart, both of whom have the pipes and the charisma to command an audience. 

If CBS wants to go the more traditional route, hopefully they’ll expand their search from the late-night space and look into other forms of media, like podcasts. Midnight Snack host (and V.F. contributor) Michelle Collins has a breezy yet sharp sense of humor reminiscent of the late Joan Rivers, and as a former host of The View, she has plenty of live television hosting experience. She’s someone you’d want to gab with on a couch, which, given the Late Late Show’s more casual two-guests-at-once style, seems like a good fit for the program. Las Culturistas cohost Matt Rogers also has been blessed with the gift of gab, and absolutely knows his way around a tune.

For a final out of left field choice, why not Fielder? I know what you're thinking: haven't we had enough white guys in suits as late-night hosts to last a century? But the Nathan For You star is such an oddball, such a genuinely strange cat, that it's hard not to think he'd be a pretty entertaining, bizarre choice for the gig. Plus, we know that he knows what it takes to deliver a great late-night anecdote.

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