Not only did James Corden premiere his Late Late Show to strong critical favor and ratings success on Monday night — he also received an overwhelmingly positive reaction on Twitter.
According to TheySay Ltd., an analytical group at Oxford University that measures the public's sentiment on Twitter, the Into the Woods star's CBS debut resulted in over 41,000 tweets that mentioned him, with 88 percent of them positive and only 12 percent of them negative. The new host was welcomed by guests Mila Kunis and Tom Hanks, who sat on the couch at the same time.
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Corden's social media presence was also helped by British friends and supporters like Harry Styles, who tweeted good luck to him and his producer Ben Winston to his 24 million followers, and fellow One Direction bandmember Niall Horan, whose plea to the U.S. to tune in at 12:30 p.m. was retweeted over 47,000 times. Even Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon wished the English personality the best of luck on his debut, adding facetiously, "Be sure to watch him every night at 11:30 on NBC".
The favorable reception on social media was accompanied by solid ratings, with 1.66 million viewers and a 0.4 rating among adults 18-49. The numbers put Corden up 17 percent from his direct competition, Seth Meyers and his Late Night on NBC. Critics, too, were largely impressed with the first show.
"He’s different," wrote The Hollywood Reporter's Tim Goodman in a favorable review. "The glaring difference is that he comes without almost any snark, which is a modern American late-night talk show host must-have quality that was only recently spurned by Jimmy Fallon. Corden doesn’t put a layer of cool between him and the viewer (or his guests) — he’s as affable and sincere as Fallon with just a little less goofiness. It’s a welcome trait, one that should put guests at ease."
Meanwhile, USA Today's Robert Bianco called Corden "a smart, funny, enormously gifted writer and performer who comes across as genuine and likable, and someone who projects humility and a genuine sweetness without projecting a lack of confidence."
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The warm reception comes after a months-long press tour in which Corden repeatedly talked down the show in an attempt to lower expectations. "To publicly come out and say, 'This show is going to be this, that or the other,' would be ridiculous because it won’t be straight away. They never are," he told THR two weeks ahead his premiere before offering a hint of positivity: "But deep down, I fancy our chances."
Some notable mentions of Corden:
Email: Bryn.Sandberg@THR.com
Twitter: @brynsandberg
