After stint as host of ‘Late Late Show’, Craig Kilborn makes a comeback with ‘The Kilborn File’
Craig Kilborn still gets juiced by the creative aspects of television – it’s just the rest of the junk involved with putting a show on in Hollywood that’s a problem.
Kilborn, viewers will recall, famously walked away from the hosting chair of CBS’ “Late Late Show” in 2004, saying he was taking an early retirement.
“It’s fun being creative, and that’s satisfying,” Kilborn says. “There’s also satisfaction from being away from the rat race and the dysfunction and the silliness.”
Kilborn, 47, is getting back into the rat race, dysfunction and silliness better known as TV next week when Fox-owned stations launch “The Kilborn File,” a half-hour show.
“I didn’t really miss it, no,” he says when asked of his time away. “I didn’t miss it, but I still enjoy it. I also enjoy not working and driving up to Carmel, too.”
It’s a life that every regular person would want, and that those inside the Hollywood machine find hard to understand. Though the industry – and some fans – thought he was nuts for walking away from a big-bucks job, Kilborn said he always knew it wasn’t a permanent move.
Before CBS, Kilborn was the host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” and before that, a sportscaster on ESPN.
He had accomplished what he wanted to when he left CBS, but also knew eventually something good would come up.
“I always tell people I romanticize about doing something simple, like doing radio in northern California,” he says.
The new show came about after friends and some fans encouraged him to get back into TV. Late night, he says, was too crowded, but the idea of doing a half-hour show at 7 p.m. was appealing.
“It’s a comedy show, it’s topical, pop-culture, nonpolticial and not pushing any political agenda,” he says.
He’ll have a sidekick, actress Christine Lakin, and they’ll have a back-and-forth dialogue on each show. He’ll have an occasional panel of guests to talk about topics. He’ll have the five-questions segment for guests that he made popular in his past work.
His father, Hiram, has written the theme song, Kilborn says.
“The Kilborn File” will also work in a segment on life tips, because, Kilborn says, “comedy doesn’t always have to come from a dark place.”
It will be taped mornings in Los Angeles and air the same day. If the summer test goes well, the show could eventually be rolled out nationally.
“Honestly, as much as I enjoyed my time off, I knew I would come back,” he says. “I took my retirement in the middle of my life.”
That retirement ended when he got back behind the desk to rehearse for “The Kilborn File.”
“I enjoyed it,” he says. “I never found it particularly difficult. Broadcasting was something, I don’t want to say it came easy, but it’s something I’m comfortable doing.”
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