CBS has apparently settled on a replacement for The Late Late Show host as Craig Ferguson aims to depart the late night talk show this December.  The Wrap is reporting that English actor, comedian, and writer James Corden will take over The Late Late Show hosting duties in Ferguson’s stead, making for a somewhat surprising (and yet not surprising) choice.  Corden rose to prominence in the UK as the co-creator, co-writer, and star of the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey and subsequently lead the comedy play One Man, Two Guvnors, which earned him a Tony Award for its Broadway run.  Corden had a supporting role in this summer’s musical indie Begin Again and leads the upcoming Disney musical Into the Woods alongside Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep, which opens this Christmas.  More after the jump.

CBS has yet to officially confirm that Corden is taking over The Late Show, but The Wrap appears to be confident in its report on the matter.  Corden is a bit of an odd choice in that he’s not exactly a known quantity here in the States, but it’s also kind of fitting that the host of The Late Late Show will continue to be a person of non-American descent.  That said, it would have been great to see CBS switch up the late night landscape with a person of color or, gasp, maybe even a woman.

I’m not too familiar with Corden’s work so it’s tough to say whether this is a good fit, but I will miss Ferguson in the late night landscape.  His audience for The Late Late Show is small but loyal, and you get the sense that he’s really marching to the beat of his own drummer every night.  Ferguson opted not to renew his contract with CBS when the network went outside with its replacement choice for The Late Show with David Letterman, signing Stephen Colbert to take over the prime late night CBS talk show starting in 2015.