So last night The Late Late show w/ Craig Ferguson came on after Letterman (as it always does) and I went to change it to Conan (as I always do), but Craig said something that made me pause. He said his father had passed away on Sunday and this show was going to be different. His heart had been broken and he wasn’t sure what else he could do except talk about it. I watched the entire hour, and it was sad and funny and God help him, it was honest. He said in the Celtic tradition it customary to have a wake for the person who had passed, and you tell your favorite stories. Not necessarily flattering - it’s more a roast, or a celebration of the person’s life, with all of their accomplishments and faults. So that’s what he did. He said he expected he’d stumble at times, or maybe get weepy, and he did. But he was forgiven, because we were laughing or wiping a tear away with him. CBS posted his monologue and it’s one of the most touching things I’ve ever seen, especially on late night. It’s a long clip (it’s his ENTIRE monologue), but I think it’s worth it.

http://www.cbs.com/latenight/latelate/comedy/video/20060130.shtml