The Late Late Show was taped in Miami Beach, but no one living there was able to see it until 1:40 a.m. Photo by Evan Berkowitz

Technical Difficulties
Glitch Causes Locally Taped Late Late Show To Be Seen Really Late In Miami. Colony Theatre Was First Time Late Late Show Was Taped Outside New York

“I love his stream of consciousness monologues.”

By Evan Berkowitz

This past weekend millions of Americans saw Lincoln Road’s Colony Theatre when CBS’s The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson broadcast live from there following Super Bowl XLI on February 4, which was, of course, held in Miami, or as Ferguson referred to it “Cuba North.”

Unfortunately, due to a computer server glitch, only about half of the show was seen locally that evening, with CBS 4 being forced to run an episode of Without A Trace minutes after their live feed died. “Ironically, it aired everywhere in the country except for here,” said Eric Helfritz, the Theatre’s production manager. This was the first time The Late Late Show, which is produced by David Letterman’s company Worldwide Pants, broadcast from outside its usual headquarters at CBS Television City in Los Angeles.

Helfritz, who also works at The Byron Carlyle Theatre on 71st Street, first got news of The Late Late Show coming to Miami Beach last November. While the CBS crew did most of the work, Helfritz said he provided approximately 26 local people to help out on the production. He said Ferguson was “very nice and very down to earth” when interacting with crew.

Just last month, the Comedy Central cable network used the Colony Theatre when they taped a South Beach Comedy Festival performance by comic Christopher Titus. The Theatre hosted a similar taping for the festival the previous year, which coincided with the Colony’s reopening.

The recent renovation of the City of Miami Beach-owned theater cost $7 million and took three years to complete, Helfritz said. The project reportedly went way over budget and schedule. Helfritz acknowledged that the renovation was supposed to take only a year and a half.

The 465-seat 1934 Art Deco structure was originally built for the Paramount film theatre chain, but had fallen into disrepair over the ensuing decades. Helfritz said the renovation has greatly improved The Colony, as it now has “fly down” interior scenery similar to the Jackie Gleason Theatre and other big performance venues. He also said the old design had very limited electrical piping, but now the theater can accommodate better audio, lighting and overall has more flexibility for productions. “It makes it much easier for the bigger shows to come now,” he said.

 The Late Late Show featured actor Billy Bob Thorton, a live sketch from Saturday Night Live alumni Tim Meadows and taped pieces with former Dolphin Dan Marino, former Chicago Bears Coach Mike Ditka, singer Gloria Estefan and others. It aired in its entirety at approx. 1:40 a.m. in Miami on Monday night after the regularly scheduled Late Late Show at 12:35. That Monday night episode also showed taped segments filmed at the Colony on the previous Saturday evening. These included musical acts Kid Rock, Hank Williams Jr./ Lynyrd Skynyrd and South Florida’s own Phi Beta Sigma Step Team.

While in town, Ferguson had a chance to sample some of the local nightlife. He said he attended the Super Bowl Maxim Party and another party sponsored by Playboy Magazine. He also got his first tattoo (on his right forearm), which he videotaped for the Sunday program.  Ami James from the Miami Ink tattoo studio, located at 1344 Washington Avenue, did the drawing. Miami Ink is the subject of its own reality show currently running on the Learning Channel cable network.

Donna Paine, a freelance television producer, didn’t mind waiting in line in the rain outside The Colony for tickets. She admits to having a big crush on Ferguson. Paine said she also admires his comedy style. “I love his stream of consciousness monologues,” she said. “They are topical but not exactly, he takes a topic and runs with it.”

Of Super Sunday’s rainy weather Ferguson said, “I grew up in Scotland, the first 20 years of my life were spent in weather just like that.”

Lee Zimmerman, the director of community relations, for CBS affiliate WFOR told the SunPost that the local ratings for the big game were “pretty spectacular” with the highest numbers being posted since 1999’s Super Bowl XXXIII, which also took place in South Florida. That game had a 42 rating and a 60 share, last Sunday’s had a 43 rating and a 59 share of the audience. Locally, The Late Late Show slot had a 3.5 rating and a 10 share.

Craig Ferguson took over as host of The Late Late Show on January 3, 2005. According to the CBS Web site, before coming to the U.S., the Scottish comedian was the star of his own BBC television show called The Ferguson Theory. From 1996-2003 he was on the Drew Carey Show. The Late Late Show was recently nominated for an Emmy.

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