Joel McHale Reportedly Replacing Craig Ferguson as Late Late Show Host

Apparently there's some kind of pipeline from E! to CBS.

After news broke that Craig Ferguson would be leaving the "Late Late Show" on CBS, rumors started flying that Chelsea Handler, host of "Chelsea Lately," would be taking over. It made sense, as Chelsea was set to leave her E! show at the expiration of her contract.

But those talks apparently fell through (or never happened), and now Chelsea is off to perhaps make a deal with Netflix.

Enter Joel McHale.

The star of the now-canceled "Community" and current host of "The Soup" (another E! property) retweeted a photo from Julie Chen of himself, Chen and CBS boss Les Moonves having dinner together. With McHale having recently made headlines for his hosting of the White House Correspondent's Dinner, the speculation that McHale would take over the Late Late Show started immediately.

That speculation intensified immediately after Norm MacDonald, comedian and former "SNL" cast member, tweeted out a message of congratulation. "Congratulations to @joelmchale, the new host of the late, late show," he wrote. "The #latelatenormnorm should be extinguished, unseemly now. Thanks, tho."

While this is by no means a confirmation, it's definitely curious that MacDonald would be so sure about the idea that McHale had the job. Still, maybe Norm was just confused by the rumors that were out there already.

McHale would certainly be a great fit for the show, having proved his comedy and hosting chops time and again. But even among the elation over Stephen Colbert being tapped by CBS for Letterman's gig, there were still many voices of dissent wondering why a woman or a person of color wasn't given a shot. Those voices will only get louder if another white male gets the Late Late Show gig.