Actor and comedian Craig Kilborn shot a pilot recently for CNN, someone close to the actor confirmed to TVNewser. Don Kaplan first reported the story in the New York Daily News.
Kilborn, of course, was the original host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” from 1996-1998. The show was successful for Comedy Central, though it was a very different beast than the juggernaut Jon Stewart would turn the program into. Whereas Stewart’s ‘Daily Show” was topical and political, Kilborn’s version of the program focused on weird and wacky news stories like alien abductions, only occasionally straying into politics.
He went on to host “The Late Late Show” on CBS and most recently hosted talk show “The Kilborn File” on the Fox owned and operated stations in 2010.
It is not unusual for CNN to shoot pilots or test shows, and there is a good chance Kilborn’s pilot won’t go anywhere, but the recognizable name (to some at least) is sure to raise some eyebrows in advance of Jeff Zucker’s first day at the channel next month. There have been a slew of CNN rumors over the last week since Zucker was announced as the network’s new president. Many of the rumors seem premature or even unlikely, but they prove that people are interested in and concerned about CNN, and what the former NBCU CEO has in store.