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Craig Ferguson for ‘Tonight Show’ host

I really liked your article on Craig Ferguson. (“Pure Hilarity,” Feb. 14). Craig is already considered by many to be the true king of the late-night shows, so I totally agree with Robert Lloyd’s opening remarks that he is “the most interesting person on late-night television.”

I’m just trying to figure out what can be done to motivate NBC to offer him the job as host of “The Tonight Show.” Jeff Neil

Barbados, West Indies

Cheeky monkey -- or genius?

Kudos to Robert Lloyd, who captured the essence of Craig Ferguson in his insightful article. I have been a fan of his “The Late Late Show” since its debut in January 2005, and have watched Craig evolve into the gentleman he is now -- a warm, inventive, creative, good-looking, wild and crazy, multitalented comedian/talk show host who can carry his show on his own, even without all the frills.

Having just finished reading his newest book, “American on Purpose,” it’s even more amazing that he emerged from his rock-bottom existence.

Debbie Leigh

Woodland Hills

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I wonder if Lloyd should step back a little from the role of “television critic” and think about his use of language. Are you really tempted to call Ferguson, not to mention other talk show hosts, “a genius”? (I have watched the show.) Your principal evidence for these accolades seems to be that Ferguson uses no notecards and once quoted Kierkegaard.

As I tried to teach my former students at UC Irvine, there must be some relationship between evidence and conclusions. It seems to me that words like “genius” must be used with some discretion to retain any meaning.

David Rankin

Not believing that diagnosis

I almost laughed out loud reading about the doctors who “treat” the stars and wannabes (“It’s What Makes Sammy Run Wild,” Feb.14). What babble. Many of them are just leeches hoping to become rich and famous themselves. And the prototypes for the wannabes are the ones who make it.

They have all the fame and money but little happiness or morality. Read the daily headlines.

Elizabeth M. Foster

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Is this a put-on? Being a shallow, manipulative, egocentric jerk now has an “unofficial diagnostic term”? I suppose it is only a matter of time until “Hollywood Not Otherwise Specified” lands in the DSM as a “mental disorder” and therefore not a matter of morality or personal responsibility.

David Schwankle

Riverside

Laughter heals our hard times

I thought Reed Johnson wrote a very good piece on comedies for tough times (“The American Way: Humor in Hard Times,” Feb. 14). I did a PhD at USC some decades ago in how comedy thematizes cultural events. Screwballs like “It Happened One Night” performed a wonderful service for the American spirit during the Great Depression.

No one takes comedy seriously, but like popular music, it is where the work of healing takes place. Shakespeare knew that. So did Chaplin. It’s serious.

Giles Slade

Richmond,

Martin Scorsese isn’t all darkness

I somewhat objected to the outrageous debasement of director Martin Scorsese’s achievement as being on the wrong pedestal. (“Feedback,” Feb. 14)

If Robert Simon fully looked at the director’s filmography, he would notice that not only did he direct gangster epics like “GoodFellas” or “Mean Streets” but “The Age of Innocence,” “Kundun,” “The King of Comedy” and “The Aviator.”

Yes, a number of his films show the dark side of human nature, but to stereotype him as just a director of those type of films is to limit him as a director and an individual.

Dennis Wong