Source: Alan Sepinwall’s Twitpic
Is it pure happenstance that mere days after sending a roomful of hungry TV critics free pizza (see above photo) Craig Ferguson’s TCA panel was filled to the brim, so much so that there was overflow in the hallways? Okay, probably. After all, Ferguson is one of the sharpest and funniest comedians (or, as he refers to himself “middle-aged white guys”) on the dial, as you’ll quickly discover upon reading his no-holds-barred responses to questioned lobbed his way by a room full of fans. Err… I mean, TCA members.
On his upcoming book: It’s reasonably priced and available on September 27. It’s an autobiography and I’m looking forward to reading it. I hear it’s great.
On NBC’s decision to go with Leno at 10PM: I’m mystified by many things and that one I don’t really understand what’s going on there either. But I don’t program television, I’m just the pretty one that reads the computer.
On twitter: My broadcast is unedited thought. That’s why I would never twitter. I’ve got an hour to fill every f*cking night!
On growing up: What did I think my life would be at 12 or 13, I thought I’d be an astronaut. By 17 I thought I’d be dead by the time I was this age. It’s a constantly changing thing for everybody. In the process of writing the book you kind of go back. But I always sort of half expected that I’d end up in show-business because it was tolerant of drunkenness and you can meet girls.
On his ambitions: I don’t want to be poor. I don’t want to be rich enough so that all I care about is keeping my job. I don’t want to be frightened of getting fired. So to that end, my ambitions are that I spend less than I earn. Because the truth is we are all in a precarious business.
On Jimmy Fallon: In his first week I watched maybe 10 minutes of Jimmy [Fallon] and I like him but I stand by what I said [in previous interviews]. I thought Jimmy’s competition is Adult Swim and I still believe that. I think my competition is sleep or the Sham WOW commercial, or whatever the hell is on cable.
On Jay Leno: When Jay was shit-canned from NBC he was the leader across the board. I don’t want to get fired, so perhaps keeping your head down is how it works.
On the ‘Late Night’ format: It’s tired and old. The reality is that I’m another middle-aged white guy telling jokes on late night TV. I want to mess with it.
On his favorite guests: I like to think I’m a bit like a doctor at a certain point, where I take a bit of a hippocratic oath. But my favorite guest is Betty White, my least favorite guest is a certain actor…. well f*ck him.
On David Letterman: I know that there are people out there who can prove to you scientifically otherwise, but the king of late night television is David Letterman. If there is a successor to Johnny [Carson] then of course it’s David. And I’m… kind of his b•tch and happy to work for him and close to him. 
