Craig Ferguson Knocks Ben Silverman: The Mugabe Of NBC (VIDEO)

All of the late night hosts made reference to Jay Leno's move to 10PM on their shows Tuesday night (watch a video compilation here), but "Late Late Show" host Craig Ferguson had a special segment on NBC Universal Entertainment co-chair Ben Silverman.

Ferguson compared Silverman — the wunderkind producer behind shows like "The Office" and "Ugly Betty" before being tapped to run NBC's programming — to an African dictator, saying, "He is to NBC what Robert Mugabe is to Zimbabwe."

Ferguson then said, "Not only has Silverman run the network into the ground, he also has the creepiest and most annoying laugh in show business," before showing video from Tuesday's press conference.

Watch:

Comments

[apoyo]

I love his accent and he is so witty. It was so sad Monday when he talked about his mother who had just passed away.

[larry278]

Good & funny satire & humor at the expense of Silverman. Network execs have been laughing stocks since comedy was 1st broad cast. Comics like to pick on absurd, insecure, stuffy, fools like network execs. The public likes & laughs at jokes about network execs. If they have recordings or transcripts of the late Arthur Godfrey's joke about network vice presidents-they have material for 200 years, add Fred Allen, Jack Benny & Eddie Cantor's network vp jokes & you have material for 500 years. Network vps & execs are easy to hate; fink vp's conduct creates laughter.

[thefooligan5]

Unfounded sensationalism from Huffpo once again.

Ferguson is quite funny. I find he resorts to a lot of the same jokes night in and night out but he is really the only late show monologue I will watch.

[Pam4Waters]

Yeah, what is with the headlines here? And that sure was a creepy laugh.

[Clare53]

Leno is so not funny. Ferguson is.

[ErnestineBass]

Did you catch him in the 2000 movie "Saving Grace" with Brenda Blethyn? Hilarious!

[mapleaforever]

Ferguson is supremely talented. Being at the point in his life where he can do and say whatever strikes him, in hilarious fashion, makes all of us lucky to have him. I hope he replaces Dave some day but he will have to reel himself in -- enjoy it while it lasts, I guess.

[mapleaforever]

PS "The Big Tease", written by and starring Ferguson, is a gem.

I KNOW !!

[troykendal]

too funny

[damnadamson]

That is one creepy laugh i have to agree ... sounds like bens laughing, kissing jays feet and sucking up at the same time .... is that possible?

[Clare53]

Apparently it is.

[kellygrrrl]

Ferguson is Awesome!

[LiberalBuzz]

Love Craig and moving that mo ron Fallon to be opposite him is only going to send Craig's ratings through the roof. CBS and Craig must be jumping for joy at the news of the most unfunny comedian EVER having a late night show.

[Tyrione]

Ferguson is classic and the best on Late Night. His monologues are worth staying up late to laugh before one goes to sleep.

[MM216]

I agree. I at least try to stay up long enough for his monologues.
He's a fun interviewer, also.

[shirleyfeeney]

I LOVE Craig Ferguson! And because he's employed by David Letterman, he gets away with quite a bit ;)

[CR46]

I love him too!!! And yes :) he does!!!

[wembakoy]

Please read this link: http://okonda.com/please_save_my_people.html

[Larkinvos]

OK. Bridge to NBC? Burned? Check.

[whsmith]

That was my exact thought. But he probably figures Silverman won't be around much longer

[moveleft]

Stop calling Ben Silverman a "wunderkind." His entire career is built on taking existing show formats from other countries and finding producers here to reconstitute them for American audiences. The man has never had an original idea in his life. When the press stops perpetuating his self-created myth then maybe he'll be seen for what he really is: a cocky, self-indulgent ego maniac with few skills beyond copying someone else's creativity. We're talking about a guy who, by all accounts, disappeared for the ten days of the Summer Olympics and spent much of it in a drug fueled haze (and more than a few days on the yacht of Rupert Murdoch's daughter). That was supposedly going to get him fired...finally. Of course, as Jay Leno correctly pointed out last night on Olbermann, the only way to fail at NBC is up. Like his equally talentless boss Jeff Zucker, Silverman will continue to run NBC into the ground while their bosses at GE shower them with millions. Note: I am not a current or former employee of NBC/Universal. Just someone who works in "the business" and, like so many of my peers, can't figure out why the Zucker/Silverman show has yet to be cancelled.

[Tyrione]

Exactly! If anything he should be called a Plagiarist, but then again they bought the rights to adapt those truly talented shows into average crap in the US. Most Americans just don't realize how average The Office is compared to the real show.

I won't even tough Ugly Betty. That's a show like Lipstick Jungle that should be blown up.

[Clare53]

Good post MoveLeft.

[ErnestineBass]

Nice to know there are still some "in the business" (which I no longer am) who are willing to speak the truth about Zucker and Silverman. They've ruined NBC programming. EB

[CrackerJacker]

Hilarious.