February 7, 2014. Actor Neil Patrick Harris meets the media after he was honored as Hasty Pudding Theatricals "Man of the Year" during a roast at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Reuters)
Apparently Stephen Colbert wasn't the only name in contention to take over hosting duties at "The Late Show" after David Letterman retires next year.
In an interview with Howard Stern this week, Neil Patrick Harris revealed that CBS CEO Leslie Moonves and Entertainment President Nina Tassler also approached him about the gig.
"Not in conversation, like, about to be a deal, but they called me in and sat me down and asked if that would be something that I'd be interested in doing," Harris clarified.
Harris said he turned down the offer — as well as an offer to Craig Ferguson on "The Late Show" — because he has no desire to do a nightly show.
"I was surprised that [Moonves] pitched me that idea," Harris told Stern. "I think I would get bored of the repetition fast, and the structure of it is so set. I don't have any interest in doing monologue, commercial, sketch, guest, guest, guest, musical act, 'Good night.'"
Harris said he would be interested in doing a weekly variety show, however — one that would feature pre-taped and live segments, as well as guest interviews.
But is that something Moonves would be interested in? "Yeah, he might be," Harris tells Stern.
NBC is debuting a similar-sounding variety show on Monday, hosted by Maya Rudolph.
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