Geoff Petersen
Encyclopedia
Geoff Peterson is the robot skeleton sidekick
for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
on CBS
. His debut appearance was on Monday, April 5, 2010. Geoff Peterson was designed and built by Grant Imahara
of the Discovery Channel
show Mythbusters
. He has glowing blue eyes, a metal mohawk
, and wears an over-sized suit with his name scrawled on a contestant's name tag from The Price is Right
. New York magazine
's Vulture blog described him as "the de facto animatronic
'King of the One-Liners'
for this generation".
The robot is voiced by Josh Thompson
, either live or as a set of pre-recorded phrases.
's comedic complaining that his show suffered due to its lack of a band or sidekick
. This, coupled with an expressed desire to have his own "Robot Skeleton Army", a reference to the cybernetic creatures from the Terminator
series of movies and the name of his legion of Twitter
followers, led to the creation of a robot sidekick named Geoff.
Mythbusters Grant Imahara
volunteered to create the robot if Ferguson could get him 100,000 Twitter followers, which he achieved within 24 hours.
Imahara says the name "Geoff Peterson" was chosen by Craig:
Geoff was upgraded in July 2010, allowing him to shake his head, keep his mouth open, and use his right hand to perform what seems to suggest a sexual act
. Craig noted that this is because his "wise ass" chip was activated.
For Geoff's first anniversary, the Late Late Show filmed a sketch
in Las Vegas that aired on the April 14, 2011 show. The segment depicted Craig, Geoff, and T.J. the leprechaun
partaking of "hallucinogenic frozen custard" with comedian Carrot Top
and their subsequent gallivanting around Vegas. The sketch also featured appearances by Grant Imahara, Donny Osmond
, Secretariat
(the show's pantomime horse
, voiced by Josh Thompson impersonating Morgan Freeman
), Wavy and Sid (Craig's alligator
and rabbit
puppets), and culminated in Craig and Geoff marrying one another at a typical Vegas chapel. For the episode, Geoff's voice was performed live for the first time by Thompson. Geoff has been referred to as a homosexual robot, but his genitals have been held up in customs for some time, according to Ferguson.
A running gag
on the show involves a mock feud between Geoff and actress Kristen Bell
, a frequent guest. Her appearances usually include some sort of catty exchange with the robot. As of August 2011, Geoff and Kristen had supposedly reconciled while in Paris
shooting Le Late Late Show avec Craig Ferguson à Paris.
, who describes it as "one part Snagglepuss
, one part Vincent Price
, two parts George Takei
".
Initially, the robot was able to say a number of pre-recorded phrases, triggered by one of the show's writers offstage using an iPad. Since April 2011, Thompson has frequently voiced and operated Geoff live. Thompson says these live segments are "100% unscripted and improvised".
Thompson was unavailable for two weeks starting with the 7 November 2011 show (Ferguson told the audience that Peterson had a new computer chip installed). In the interim, Ferguson enlisted several celebrities to supply the voice of Peterson:
Beginning with the November 10 broadcast (Larry King), Craig began each episode by telling the night's celebrity guest that they would be placed in a "pod" backstage, where their mind and body would be sent to Geoff. Geoff was also dressed up to better suit his new personality.
" and also lives in his crawlspace. When Thompson was unavailable once again from November 28th to November 30th, Lennon reprised his role as "Chloe".
/Twitter
portion of the show. His comments are broad and often said as a segue to another joke or to make fun of something else, including Peterson himself, or as humorous non sequiturs.
He is featured in three of the "Tweets and E-mails" jingles: a parody of a Bollywood
Filmi
musical performance, a parody of an 80s glam metal
performance, and a Rick James
parody. Terminator-esque robot skeletons, which pre-date Peterson, appear in jingles that parody the musical performances of artists such as Kraftwerk
, David Bowie
, Bob Dylan
, Gary Glitter
, and Johnny Cash
.
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a Peabody Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson, the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise, follows Late Show with David Letterman in the CBS late-night lineup...
on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. His debut appearance was on Monday, April 5, 2010. Geoff Peterson was designed and built by Grant Imahara
Grant Imahara
Grant Masaru Imahara is a Japanese American electronics and radio control expert, best known for his work on the American television show MythBusters.-Education and early work:...
of the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
show Mythbusters
MythBusters
MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...
. He has glowing blue eyes, a metal mohawk
Mohawk hairstyle
The mohawk is a hairstyle in which, in the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair...
, and wears an over-sized suit with his name scrawled on a contestant's name tag from The Price is Right
The Price Is Right (US game show)
The Price Is Right is an American game show which was created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Contestants compete to identify the pricing of merchandise to win cash and prizes. The show is well-known for its signature line of "Come on down!" when the announcer directs newly selected contestants to...
. New York magazine
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
's Vulture blog described him as "the de facto animatronic
Animatronics
Animatronics is the use of mechatronics to create machines which seem animate rather than robotic. Animatronic creations include animals , plants and even mythical creatures...
'King of the One-Liners'
Henny Youngman
Henry "Henny" Youngman was a British-born American comedian and violinist famous for "one-liners", short, simple jokes usually delivered rapid-fire...
for this generation".
The robot is voiced by Josh Thompson
Josh Robert Thompson
Josh Robert Thompson is an American actor, impressionist and comedian.Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, he resides in Los Angeles, making his living primarily as a voice and character actor. Thompson is known for his celebrity impressions, including Robert De Niro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Willie...
, either live or as a set of pre-recorded phrases.
History
The idea of Geoff Peterson came from Craig FergusonCraig Ferguson
Craig Ferguson is a Scottish American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS...
's comedic complaining that his show suffered due to its lack of a band or sidekick
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
. This, coupled with an expressed desire to have his own "Robot Skeleton Army", a reference to the cybernetic creatures from the Terminator
Terminator (franchise)
The Terminator series is a science fiction franchise encompassing a series of films and other media concerning battles between Skynet's artificially intelligent machine network, and John Connor's Resistance forces and the rest of the human race....
series of movies and the name of his legion of Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
followers, led to the creation of a robot sidekick named Geoff.
Mythbusters Grant Imahara
Grant Imahara
Grant Masaru Imahara is a Japanese American electronics and radio control expert, best known for his work on the American television show MythBusters.-Education and early work:...
volunteered to create the robot if Ferguson could get him 100,000 Twitter followers, which he achieved within 24 hours.
Imahara says the name "Geoff Peterson" was chosen by Craig:
"There was sort of a Twitter online poll as to what the name for the robot would be. And some people were saying "Roboskelly," some people were "Fergbot," there was probably about half a dozen names that people were talking about. And Craig just said, "No, the name is Geoff Peterson."
Geoff was upgraded in July 2010, allowing him to shake his head, keep his mouth open, and use his right hand to perform what seems to suggest a sexual act
Masturbation
Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...
. Craig noted that this is because his "wise ass" chip was activated.
For Geoff's first anniversary, the Late Late Show filmed a sketch
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
in Las Vegas that aired on the April 14, 2011 show. The segment depicted Craig, Geoff, and T.J. the leprechaun
Leprechaun
A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology...
partaking of "hallucinogenic frozen custard" with comedian Carrot Top
Carrot Top
Scott Thompson , better known by his stage name Carrot Top, is an American comedian known for his bright red hair, prop comedy, and self-deprecating humor.-Early years:...
and their subsequent gallivanting around Vegas. The sketch also featured appearances by Grant Imahara, Donny Osmond
Donny Osmond
Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond is an American singer, musician, actor, dancer, radio personality, and former teen idol. Osmond has also been a talk and game show host, record producer and author. In the mid 1960s, he and four of his elder brothers gained fame as the Osmond Brothers on the long...
, Secretariat
Secretariat (Craig Ferguson)
Secretariat is a pantomime horse which appears on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.He originally appeared during the first run of the Disney film Secretariat, and has since appeared on the show many times....
(the show's pantomime horse
Pantomime horse
A pantomime horse is atheatrical representation of a horse or other quadruped by two actors in a single costume who cooperate and synchronize their movements...
, voiced by Josh Thompson impersonating Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
), Wavy and Sid (Craig's alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
and rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
puppets), and culminated in Craig and Geoff marrying one another at a typical Vegas chapel. For the episode, Geoff's voice was performed live for the first time by Thompson. Geoff has been referred to as a homosexual robot, but his genitals have been held up in customs for some time, according to Ferguson.
A running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
on the show involves a mock feud between Geoff and actress Kristen Bell
Kristen Bell
Kristen Anne Bell is an American actress. Although her first film role was an uncredited appearance in Polish Wedding, Bell previously acted in stage and musical productions. In 2001, she made her Broadway debut as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer...
, a frequent guest. Her appearances usually include some sort of catty exchange with the robot. As of August 2011, Geoff and Kristen had supposedly reconciled while in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
shooting Le Late Late Show avec Craig Ferguson à Paris.
Operation
Originally Peterson's voice was a loud, obnoxious monotone with an English accent, voiced by Craig Ferguson, but this was changed after the first week. His voice is now performed by voice actor Josh Robert ThompsonJosh Robert Thompson
Josh Robert Thompson is an American actor, impressionist and comedian.Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, he resides in Los Angeles, making his living primarily as a voice and character actor. Thompson is known for his celebrity impressions, including Robert De Niro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Willie...
, who describes it as "one part Snagglepuss
Snagglepuss
Snagglepuss is a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character created in 1959, a pink anthropomorphic mountain lion voiced by Daws Butler. He is best known for his famous catchphrase, "Heavens to Murgatroyd!", along with phrases such as "Exit, stage left!" Snagglepuss was originally known as "Snaggletooth"...
, one part Vincent Price
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
, two parts George Takei
George Takei
George Hosato Takei Altman is an American actor, author, social activist and former civil politician. He is best known for his role in the television series Star Trek and its film spinoffs, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the...
".
Initially, the robot was able to say a number of pre-recorded phrases, triggered by one of the show's writers offstage using an iPad. Since April 2011, Thompson has frequently voiced and operated Geoff live. Thompson says these live segments are "100% unscripted and improvised".
Thompson was unavailable for two weeks starting with the 7 November 2011 show (Ferguson told the audience that Peterson had a new computer chip installed). In the interim, Ferguson enlisted several celebrities to supply the voice of Peterson:
- 7 November: Alfred MolinaAlfred MolinaAlfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...
- 8 November: Dominic MonaghanDominic MonaghanDominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan is an English actor. He has received international attention from playing Merry in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show Lost....
- 9 November: Thomas Lennon (using a Spanish accent)
- 10 November: Larry KingLarry KingLawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
- 11 November: Louie AndersonLouie AndersonLouie Perry Anderson is an American stand-up comedian. Anderson created the cartoon series Life with Louie, has written three books, and was the initial host of the second revival of the game show Family Feud, from 1999 to 2002....
- 14 November: Lauren GrahamLauren GrahamLauren Helen Graham is an American actress and producer. She is best known for playing Lorelai Gilmore on the WB Network dramedy series Gilmore Girls and Sarah Braverman on Parenthood.-Early life:...
- 15 November: Paula PoundstonePaula PoundstonePaula Poundstone is an American stand-up comedian.- Early life :Poundstone was born in Huntsville, Alabama, and her family moved to Sudbury, Massachusetts. Poundstone attended Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, but dropped out to pursue a show business career...
- 16 November: Angela KinseyAngela KinseyAngela Kinsey is an American actress. She currently appears as the uptight accountant Angela Martin on the hit NBC television series The Office.-Personal life:...
- 17 November: Jason SchwartzmanJason SchwartzmanJason Francesco Schwartzman is an American actor and musician. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Rushmore, Spun, I Heart Huckabees, Shopgirl, Marie Antoinette, The Darjeeling Limited, Funny People, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World...
- 18 November: Shadoe StevensShadoe StevensShadoe Stevens is an American radio host, voiceover actor, and television personality. He was the host of American Top 40 from 1988 to 1995...
Beginning with the November 10 broadcast (Larry King), Craig began each episode by telling the night's celebrity guest that they would be placed in a "pod" backstage, where their mind and body would be sent to Geoff. Geoff was also dressed up to better suit his new personality.
"Chloe Banderas"
During Thompson's absence during November 2011, Thomas Lennon, replaced him in handling Peterson on November 9th. In his appearance, Lennon created an alternate personality for Peterson known as "Chloe Banderas", an effeminate spaniard who is "the least famous brother of Antonio BanderasAntonio Banderas
José Antonio Domínguez Banderas , better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer...
" and also lives in his crawlspace. When Thompson was unavailable once again from November 28th to November 30th, Lennon reprised his role as "Chloe".
Duties
Peterson makes comments occasionally throughout the show and helps introduce the e-mailE-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
portion of the show. His comments are broad and often said as a segue to another joke or to make fun of something else, including Peterson himself, or as humorous non sequiturs.
He is featured in three of the "Tweets and E-mails" jingles: a parody of a Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
Filmi
Filmi
Filmi is Indian popular music as written and performed for Indian cinema. Music directors make up the main body of composers; the songs are performed by playback singers and it makes up 72% of the music sales in India....
musical performance, a parody of an 80s glam metal
Glam metal
Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...
performance, and a Rick James
Rick James
James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. , better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. James was a popular performer in the late 1970s and 1980s, scoring four number-one hits on the U.S. R&B charts performing in the genres of funk and R&B...
parody. Terminator-esque robot skeletons, which pre-date Peterson, appear in jingles that parody the musical performances of artists such as Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter is an English former glam rock singer-songwriter and musician.Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s...
, and Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
.