Skip to main content

Craig Ferguson returns to the small screen in History channel debate show, Join or Die

craig ferguson to host history debate show join or die
Wikimedia Commons
Former Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson will now helm a different sort of venture: a 16 episode history debate show featuring a panel of guests. The History Channel announced that they picked up the new series, entitled Join or Die with Craig Ferguson, this week. Alongside celebrities and historians, Ferguson will debate topics from a wide swath of American and international history. Maybe the Scot will even throw in some tidbits from his homeland?

“I’m a huge fan of History and what they do,” said Ferguson in a statement according to Deadline. “I’m delighted to be on their schedule and promise that we will have a lot of fun but we will also stick to the truth.” Topics that the upcoming series will ponder include determining the greatest founding father, the biggest presidential campaign flop, and which invention was history’s greatest ‘game changer,’ according to the press release. 

Recommended Videos

Ferguson just became a US citizen in 2008, so his knowledge in American history might well be stronger than the average citizen. And he’s certainly proud to call the US his home. The show’s title comes from Benjamin Franklin’s iconic political cartoon from 1754, which Ferguson had tattooed on his arm to celebrate his citizenship.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

“Craig is incredibly knowledgeable, but also has a fun way of getting people engaged in history,” History Channel exec Paul Cabana in a statement. “It’s clear this is his passion project and we’re looking forward to having him join the network.” 

Ferguson will exec produce Join or Die with Phil Cottone, Brian Volk-Weiss, and Jim Biederman. The series, which does not yet have a release date, will also have an ‘extensive’ online presence. Ferguson currently hosts Celebrity Name Game, whose second season begins on September 21. 

Chris Leo Palermino
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Chris Leo Palermino is a music, tech, business, and culture journalist based between New York and Boston. He also contributes…
5 great Netflix movies to watch on Christmas
A TSA agent runs in Carry-On.

To quote a notorious line from a James Bond movie, "Christmas comes but once a year." Since that's the case, you better have something fun planned, or the holidays can quickly turn sour. You could watch a football game or go to the movie theater, but why bother with all that hassle when Netflix is just sitting right there?

The streamer has plenty of movies available, especially Christmas-themed ones. But the following list doesn't include such recent films as Hot Frosty or The Merry Gentlemen. Instead, these five movies are all guaranteed crowd-pleasers, even if they don't explicitly involve the holiday.

Read more
5 great drama movies to watch on Christmas
A man puts his hand on the steering wheel in a car in a scene from The Noel Diary.

'Tis the season for watching movies. It's a great opportunity to watch a movie since many of us will be off during the holiday season. There are so many Christmas movies to choose from that it can be overwhelming. Family-friendly classics like Elf, Home Alone, and A Christmas Story never go out of style. Rom-coms like Love Actually and The Holiday always play well this time of year.

There are significantly fewer Christmas dramas than the two categories mentioned above. However, the dramas that are available to stream are worth watching. Our picks for drama movies to watch on Christmas include a famous psychological drama from a master, an iconic adaptation of a novel, and a Netflix romance.

Read more
1999 had the greatest lineup of Christmas movies ever
Two men work on a film projector in The Cider House Rules.

We all have our traditions for Christmas. Some sing carols around the neighborhood while others wear ugly sweaters to work and make gingerbread at home. For myself, every year I always go to one place of worship on Christmas Day: the movie theater. I'll be there this year, plunging myself into the Gothic darkness of Robert Eggers' Nosferatu remake, watching Nicole Kidman submit to unspeakable carnal pleasures in Babygirl, and witnessing the birth of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown.

For as long as I can remember, I've gone to the theater on Christmas and watched three or four movies, usually from different genres, and it's always been the one present to myself that's satisfied me the most. But there was one year when my holiday movie marathon hit a perfect score, all 10s, and no notes: 1999. That was a great movie year, so it stands to reason its Christmas Day offerings would tower over the rest.

Read more