James Corden Is Trying Remind the U.K. Why It Ever Liked Him in the First Place
James Corden knows that, as much hate as he gets from the a-holes of the internet, he’ll always be loved by Nessa — at least, until this Christmas.
Before Corden was a central and controversial figure in the movement to reformat American late-night comedy around internet obsession, half-baked pop-culture segments and a level of celebrity worship that would make Johnny Carson keel over (again), he was known as a talented, energetic and prickly comedy up-and-comer on U.K. television, thanks to his hit sitcom, Gavin & Stacey, which he co-created, co-wrote and co-starred alongside his comedy partner Ruth Jones.
Beginning in 2007, Gavin & Stacey helped Corden and Jones build a devoted following as they filled out their trophy cases and made themselves household names in the U.K. But for Corden, Gavin & Stacey was only the first step in his rise to international stardom, and in 2015, five years after the show’s original conclusion, he set sail for America to take over for Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show.
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Today, Corden is back in Britain, and his widely reported behind-the-scenes shittiness and abuse of New York’s service workers have rubbed many fans of his early work the wrong way — so much so that many U.K. comedy fans asked in vain that the loser of the match between England and the U.S. in the 2022 FIFA World Cup would have to keep Corden.
Well, this Christmas, Corden will cash in on the last drops of the goodwill he won with Gavin & Stacey with one last Christmas special featuring the titular characters. For Americans who never watched the sitcom, spending Christmas with James Corden would be worse than a lump of coal.
Gavin & Stacey tells the story of a long-distance relationship-turned-marriage-turned-separation-turned-marriage-again between Gavin Shipman (played by Mathew Horne), a levelheaded optimist from Essex, England, and Stacey West (Joanna Page), a childish but bubbly woman from Barry, Wales. U.K. critics and audiences alike celebrated the show’s devotion to romance and vulnerability while demonstrating the quick wit and comedy chops of its writers and stars. In fact, Gavin & Stacey was so beloved in the U.K. that, when the team decided to reconvene to produce a Christmas special in 2019, almost a decade after the original conclusion of the show, it was the most-viewed non-sporting event on U.K. television in a decade and the most-watched comedy show in 17 years.
This Christmas, Corden, Jones, Page and the rest of the Gavin & Stacey cast and crew will say goodbye to the smash-hit series with one last Christmas special that will, hopefully, resolve a cliffhanger from the last special when Jones’ character Vanessa Shanessa “Nessa” Jenkins proposed to Corden’s Neil “Smithy” Smith, with whom she has a child.
“It’s official!!! We have finished writing the last ever episode of Gavin & Stacey,” Corden wrote in a joint Instagram post with Jones yesterday. “See you on Christmas Day, BBC One. Love Ruth and James.”
Maybe Corden can ask Santa to finally bring him a second character that isn’t unbearable.
