Craig Ferguson’s absurdist antics on The Late Late Show weren’t limited to on-camera moments. As the former late-night host revealed during a mini Late Late Show reunion episode of his podcast, at least one behind-the-scenes stunt he pulled was just as amusing.
On the latest episode of Ferguson’s Joy, A Podcast., the comedian sat down with two of his sidekicks from his CBS days—well, sort of.
Instead of a real on-camera announcer or sidekick, the latter half of Craig Ferguson’s Late Late Show went with two other options: a robot and a horse.
In 2010, Ferguson debuted the robot skeleton Geoff Peterson, voiced and operated by Josh Robert Thompson. Later that year, another side character was introduced: Secretariat the pantomime horse, played by two men in a horse costume. The front of the horse was Joseph Bolter (though in the finale, it was “revealed” that Bob Newhart was inside the horse costume the whole time).
While reminiscing about The Late Late Show with Thompson and Bolter on the podcast, Ferguson recalled his final contract negotiation.
“Toward the end, things were getting a little nutty, and Rob Burnett was running Worldwide Pants,” Ferguson explained, referring to the David Letterman-owned company that produced his show. “I think I was re-upping for the last two years or something. And Rob said, ‘What do you want?’”
“I said, ‘I want $10,000 in a shoebox with used bills’—and he sent it to me,” Ferguson revealed.
“It wasn’t even fresh,” the host added. “It was like used, bad money.”
Ferguson ultimately got his ask, and it paid off with more than just a great story. “I think for the next two years,” he says, “instead of going to the ATM, I would just go to the shoebox.”
