November 24, 2004 |
TRL Host Seeks Kilborn's Job
by Daniel R. Coleridge
The four-man race for Craig Kilborn's vacated desk on CBS' The Late Late Show is heating up. This week, MTV's TRL host Damien Fahey, 24, has returned for a second stint as guest host. How hungry is he to land Kilby's old job? Very. A final decision is expected to be made sometime next month. Here, he sits down with TV Guide Online to size up the competition and figure his chances. TV Guide Online: We enjoy the bedhead haircut you're sporting on Late Late Show.
Damien Fahey: It's like a 45-minute procedure to make it look this messy. It's all done with mirrors like a David Blaine trick. TVGO: So your rivals for the host gig are Ed's Michael Ian Black, sitcom star D.L. Hughley and... who's the other guy?
Fahey: Craig Ferguson. TVGO: Who the hell's that? He probably has no chance if I can't even remember his name.
Fahey: (Laughs) There you go. We're actually doing a sketch on the show tonight called "Who Is Craig Ferguson?" He's actually Drew Carey's boss on The Drew Carey Show... No, no, you're not gonna lure me into bad-mouthing the other guys. TVGO: In all seriousness, do you really have a prayer of getting hired permanently?
Fahey: David Letterman and the folks at [his production company] World Wide Pants have a big say. I've been told I have as much chance as anyone else, which is kinda wild because I am 24. So if this actually happened... Obviously, it's awesome for my career, but personally, this is a dream come true and surpasses anything I thought I'd accomplish in my life. TVGO: So you thought you'd live out your days as a well-paid niche-cable TV sub-lebrity?
Fahey: No. From Day 1, I was always convinced I'd have a couple of bad focus groups and that'd be it. I'd be out the door and operating a tollbooth on the Jersey Turnpike. So I'll always try to step it up and do better. If I get this, I'll be satisfied, happy and confident in my longevity. But obviously, you worry. The track record is more MTV VJs going the way of Jesse Camp. TVGO: True. Your next stop could be Game Show Network, like Kennedy!
Fahey: (Mock horrified) Please no. That'd be like hosting Sabado Gigante in Spanish on Univision. TVGO: Hopefully, you'll be the one to replace Kilby. Not sure I liked him much. The guy always had that cocky, frat-boy date-rape gleam in his eye. You're odd, too, but definitely sweeter than he was.
Fahey: (Laughs) So I don't have the date-rape gleam? OK, very good. Maybe I just have more of that jaywalking look in my eye. Like I might cross against the light, but that's the extent of it.
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