What started as a stunt for ratings, the “Carpool Karaoke” sessions featured on CBS’ Late Late Show with James Corden has grown into a monster hit that is about to take on a life of its own.
This week, Apple announced that it has signed a deal with CBS Television Studios and Fulwell 73 to turn the musical segments into its own standalone series. The new Carpool Karaoke show will first be shown only to subscribers to Apple’s music streaming app. The new series will begin with 16 episodes that will stream weekly on Apple Music.
Love it or hate it, Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” has been hugely popular, with many being re-broadcasted in the form of YouTube videos, so it would appear that this new project will also be a huge hit. However, here’s the rub: Corden will most likely not appear in the new videos , according to the Daily Mail . Apple has yet to announce who the new host will be, and although Corden won’t be crooning this time around, he will serve as the series’ executive producer along with Ben Winston.
Apple Music picks up Carpool Karaoke as a standalone series https://t.co/u71tB0PgUE pic.twitter.com/hweyW8UKoT
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) July 27, 2016
“We couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with Apple Music on this exciting new series of Carpool Karaoke ,” said Winston. “The joy of Carpool is both the intimacy it creates, while seeing the love our passengers have for music. Where better to showcase that than with Apple Music?”
While this new development is unique, it is not the first time that a late-night stunt became its own show. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon first created the “Lip Sync Battle” segment, which is now its own series on Spike TV hosted by LL Cool J, reports the New York Daily News .
Since he has hosted the Late Late Show , Corden has picked up more than a few celebrities to sing with the car stereo, including Sir Elton John, Adele, Mariah Carey, and, most recently, First Lady Michelle Obama with Missy Elliott. In June, just before the 70th Annual Tony Awards broadcast (which James was hosting), Corden took Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda around for a spin. Along the way, he also picked up Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jane Krakowski, and Audra McDonald for an impressive, if not self-indulgent performance. To date, the video has over 12,573,000 views on YouTube.
This week, Michelle Obama joined Corden for a ride.
“Do you mind if we listen to some music?” Michelle asked. “I rarely get to listen to music in the car. What you got? Crank it up!”
The two were off singing songs of Stevie Wonder.
“Did you know that Stevie Wonder is my favorite? I love Stevie Wonder! I think I know every Stevie song on the planet!” she remarked.
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Kiedis And James Corden: Naked And Wrestling During Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘Carpool Karaoke’ [Video]
However, not every trip is just fun and games. While performing shirtless with Anthony Kiedis and the rest of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Corden and crew had a great time cruising. However, after the segment was taped, the group stopped off at a Mexican restaurant where a woman with a baby came out shouting that her baby was not breathing. According to another article on the Inquisitr , Kiedis attempted to do CPR on the baby and then rubbed the baby’s stomach and bubbles came out of her mouth. Kiedis held the baby until an ambulance showed up at the scene.
“It was kind of a beautiful thing that we stopped for the dance off. We were there, the baby needed help and we were there.”
[Image via CBS]