Ferguson Tapes Show By Flashlight During Power Outage (VIDEO)

(AP) LOS ANGELES — "Late Late Show" host Craig Ferguson had to finish taping his program by flashlight on Tuesday after high winds knocked out power at CBS Television City in central Los Angeles.

Show publicist Katie Barker says lights started dimming and then suddenly went black about 5:45 p.m. as Ferguson was interviewing actress Alicia Silverstone, leaving both in the dark as to what was going on.

Producers decided to keep the blackout as part of the show and handed Ferguson a flashlight.

With wind gusts reaching up to 70 mph, scattered power outages have been reported around the greater Los Angeles region.


WATCH:

Get HuffPost Comedy On Facebook and Twitter!

Comments

[KarlInVegas]

Broadcast cameras often use Triaxial Cable, which carries not only the audio and video feed, but control signals and power to/from the control area. The control area, elsewhere in the building, could be running on generator power.

For more on Triaxial -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triaxial_cable

Other equipment, like microphones, and the flashlight used, obviously run on battery power.

And yes, there could be an element of UPS backup systems to keep sensitive and also very expensive equipment from being affected by power noise, brownouts, surges, and the like.

[KarlInVegas]

Whoops, meant as reply to questions about studio lighting versus equipment below. Heh.

[KT8711]

This is really cute!

I remember when there was that massive blackout in NYC several years ago, Conan taped as much of his show as he could before NBC made him switch to a rerun.

I love it when comedians roll with the punches.

[Progressiveama]

Craig is absolutely adorable. He is by far the funniest of late night comics, he is brilliant.

[OswegoKayaker]

Agreed -- love his little skits and puppets too! The navy one was GREAT!

[seereene1]

Agreed! He has a cheeky intelligence that I find very endearing. I can't remember the last time Letterman, Conan, or Leno made me laugh as loudy or as often as Ferguson. Wish he was on a little earlier though.

[EastTraveler]

Certainly an advocate of being a Vegan, all the more power to her... Who needs lights :)

[NoSillyName]

I'm glad the power didn't go out during "In The Navy".

[NotStarvingArtist]

This makes no sense. What kind of power were they using to run the cameras, microphones, and other media equipment used in taping the show. Power outages don't just affect the lights, you know.

[MiddleRoadLiberal]

I was just going to ask if they have all of that stuff running on batteries lol. It's strange.

[ChescoRes]

Yep, great minds think alike.

I was going to make that comment AND ask if batteries were involved.

Sounds like a put on to me.