Craig Kilborn
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Craig Lawrence Kilborn (born August 24, 1962) is an American television host, actor, comedian, and sports commentator. Kilborn began a career in sports broadcasting in the late 1980s, leading to an anchoring position at
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
's '' SportsCenter'' from 1993 to 1996. He was later the first host of ''
The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...
'', which he hosted from 1996 to 1998, and succeeded Tom Snyder on CBS' '' The Late Late Show'' from 1999 to 2004. In comedy, Kilborn is known for his
deadpan Deadpan, dry humour, or dry-wit humour is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality or no emotion, commonly as a form of Comedy, comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant t ...
delivery.


Early life

Kilborn was born on August 24, 1962, in
Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...
. His father, Hiram Kilborn, was an insurance executive, and his mother, Shirley, was a schoolteacher. When Kilborn was four years old, he and his family moved to Hastings, Minnesota, where he was raised. Kilborn was taller than his peers from an early age, eventually growing to , becoming a standout on the playground basketball court as he got older. In the ninth grade, Kilborn was recruited by the Northside Magicians, an all-star basketball team in
Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
,
Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
. He excelled with the Magicians and with the Hastings High School basketball team, ultimately earning three letters and multiple all-conference and all-state honors. After graduating from high school, Kilborn accepted a scholarship to play basketball for Montana State University, where he earned dual bachelor's degrees in media and theater arts in 1985 and has joked he "led the
Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...
in turnovers" and also
bench press The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...
ed while training.


Career


Media

Kilborn began in radio, as the CBA Savannah Spirits's play-by-play radio commentator in 1986 and 1987. He later began his television career in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
as the sports anchor for Monterey County's Fox affiliate KCBA in Salinas. Some of his early on-air work included covering the Gilroy Garlic Festival and playing bocce with the locals near Cannery Row. Kilborn lived in nearby Carmel-by-the-Sea.


''SportsCenter''

After several small jobs, Kilborn became an
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
'' SportsCenter''
anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...
from 1993 to 1996. He was primarily the anchor of the late broadcast of ''SportsCenter'' which he coined "The Feel Good Edition". His numerous catch phrases included "Release, Rotation, Splash", "Jumanji", and "Oh, Precious". He made a return appearance to ''SportsCenter'' on August 8, 2004, when he co-hosted ''SportsCenter'' with Dan Patrick during ESPN's 25th Anniversary Celebration.


Late-night hosting


''The Daily Show''

In 1996, Kilborn became host of ''The Daily Show'' on
Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...
. During his three-year tenure, ''The Daily Show'' was named "Best Late Night Comedy" by ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...
''. Kilborn was also nominated for a CableACE Award for Outstanding Entertainment Host. Some recurring features Kilborn created at ''The Daily Show'' included: "5 Questions", "Moment for Us", "Dance, Dance, Dance", and "Your Moment of Zen" (later hosts would continue to use the latter feature). In a 1997 interview with ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...
'', Kilborn made jokes regarding ''Daily Show'' head writer Lizz Winstead, saying, "To be honest, Lizz does find me very attractive. If I wanted her to blow me, she would." Kilborn apologized publicly and pointed out that the remarks were "said in jest", but he was suspended for a week. In 1998, CBS and
David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...
's production company, Worldwide Pants, selected Kilborn to replace Tom Snyder as host of '' The Late Late Show'' to run after ''
Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...
''. His final ''Daily Show'' episode aired on December 17, 1998, ending a 386-episode tenure. On January 11, 1999, Jon Stewart replaced Kilborn as host of ''The Daily Show''. By the time of Kilborn's departure, only one original correspondent, Beth Littleford, stayed with Stewart. She would depart in May 2000. On Jon Stewart's last ''Daily Show'' episode August 6, 2015, Kilborn made a cameo appearance as "Host Emeritus". It was his first appearance on the show since he left as host. In a 2020 interview with ''
The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...
'', Kilborn reflected on his time on ''The Daily Show'', stating that he "had a blast" doing the show and that he was "living in New York City, hosting a comedy show, and sipping martinis at the illustrious 21 Club." He also said he "wasn't hired at
Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...
to do a politics-heavy show, and he "would never do one — I have no interest." Kilborn credited ''The Daily Show'' for leading him to his dream job of hosting a traditional late-night show. He also said, "''The Daily Show'' was innocently set up in a different way — they didn't hire the host first – so we inherited each other. Fortunately, most of the people were a good fit and supportive. But as much as I enjoyed it, I was always a short timer. It wasn't my show, and I wanted to do a network traditional hour format as opposed to a half-hour news parody."


''The Late Late Show''

Kilborn hosted ''The Late Late Show'' for five years, changing the format to appeal to a younger audience. On the show, he popularized segments such as "Yambo" and "5 Questions". He created several characters, including Sebastian, the Asexual Icon. He also narrated his own introduction and would enter to the sound of the song " Play That Funky Music" at the beginning of his show. In August 2004, Kilborn elected not to extend his contract. In a 2010 interview with the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' Kilborn said, "I didn't leave to do anything else, I left to leave. I achieved my career goals and it wasn't all it was cracked up to be", and adding that he believed the late night timeslot to be "crowded", and "the formats repetitive". Kilborn later stated in a 2019 interview with the ''
Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...
'', "The main reason I left ''The Late Late Show'' was creatively I lost interest in late night comedy. The other reason was that the business side of that particular show was excessively flawed so I escaped the silliness," adding that he had "developed a specific, aristocratic comedic sensibility that didn't mesh with late night." In a 2009 interview with the Television Academy Foundation, World Wide Pants executive Peter Lassally indicated that Kilborn left the show "because he didn't get the raise he wanted." However, Kilborn stated in a 2004 interview with ''Daily Variety'' that " 'The Late Late Show''was easily the greatest job I've had, and CBS was very generous in their offer to re-sign me." Kilborn's last episode of ''The Late Late Show'' aired on August 27, 2004. The Scottish comedian Craig Ferguson took over the show on January 3, 2005."


''The Kilborn File''

Craig Kilborn returned to television on June 28, 2010 after six years off the air, when his new half-hour show ''The Kilborn File'' debuted on select Fox stations. The show aired for a six-week test run on a 7:00pm time slot in most markets, but was not well received.Five Weeks In, 'Kilborn' Ratings Stand Still
''NextTV'' August 3, 2010
Christine Lakin was his sidekick. The show brought back many of the hallmark segments from his time on ''The Daily Show'' and ''The Late Late Show,'' such as "5 Questions" and a segment similar to "Yambo" (with some minor rule changes and a name change to "Kilbo" and later to "Kilbyashi").The Kilborn File - Alex Meraz 2/2
''YouTube'' July 6, 2010
The Kilborn File - Mia Wasikowska 2/2
''YouTube'' July 16, 2010
The show was not renewed.


Other work

In the movie '' Old School'' (2003), Kilborn played Mark, the philandering boyfriend of Ellen Pompeo's character. In the 2006 film '' The Benchwarmers'', he played Jerry, the bully to Jon Heder, David Spade, and
Rob Schneider Robert Michael Schneider ( ; born October 31, 1963) is an American actor and comedian. He rose to prominence as a cast member on NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' (1990–1994), where he earned three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Following ...
's nerdy roles. In 2011, Kilborn played the villain in an episode of ''
Chuck Chuck () is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV produce ...
'' during its final season. Kilborn guest hosted '' The Artie Lange Show'' on November 6–8, 2013. He appeared in a TV commercial for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese in 2016. Since 2022, Kilborn has hosted a podcast entitled ''The Life Gorgeous''.


Filmography


Film


Television


Bibliography

* ''The Daily Show's Five Questions from Comedy Central'' ( Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1998)


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilborn, Craig 1962 births 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American writers 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male actors American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors American political commentators American satirists American television talk show hosts American television writers Basketball players from Minnesota Basketball players from Kansas City, Missouri Comedians from Minnesota Criticism of journalism Late night television talk show hosts Living people Male actors from Minnesota Male actors from Missouri American male television writers Montana State Bobcats men's basketball players Montana State University alumni People from Hastings, Minnesota Comedians from Kansas City, Missouri Sportspeople from Minnesota Sportspeople from Kansas City, Missouri Writers from Minnesota Writers from Kansas City, Missouri American men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen