‘Kilborn’ Takes Hearn Sketch Out of Fridge, Apologizes

The producers of CBS’ “The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn” apologized Friday after repeating an episode in which the host spoofed Lakers announcer Chick Hearn, who died earlier this month.

On Thursday, the network played an installment of the late-night show, originally broadcast in mid-June, which featured a comedy segment in which Kilborn poked fun at Hearn’s performance during the elaborate celebration that followed the Lakers’ third consecutive championship. Hearn had looked frail during the event and at times seemed flustered, confusing players’ names.

A spokesman for the show called the scheduling “an inadvertent mistake,” noting that the producers decided to rerun that particular episode based on the guests that night, without remembering it contained the Hearn parody. Producer Rob Burnett issued a statement saying, “We meant no offense to his family.”

There’s a dubious upside for CBS; the rerun drew a dismal rating in Los Angeles, where viewers were most apt to be offended (though one did complain to The Times). “Late Late Show” was delayed half an hour, beginning at 1 a.m., due to CBS’ U.S. Open tennis highlights. According to Nielsen Media Research data, the show was watched by just 0.3% of homes in the local viewing area, or about 16,000 of the market’s more than 5.3 million TV households.

By way of comparison, NBC’s “Late Night With Conan O’Brien”--which began at its regular time--drew a 3.5 rating, which translates to 186,000 homes.