With just two weeks remaining on Craig Kilburn’s contract, the search for the new Late Late Show host begins immediately. So far, no plans are in place once Kilburn exits on August 27th. The host says he is leaving to “focus on writing and producing different television projects I haven't had time for.' However, there are rumors the host is leaving because he and CBS couldn't come to terms with his salary.

Rumor of replacement include NBC's Conan O'Brien to comic writer-performer Amy Sedaris. It's well known that O'Brien, whose NBC Late Night show airs opposite Kilborn's, would prefer to be in the earlier 11:30 p.m. timeslot, now filled by Letterman at CBS and Tonight Show host Jay Leno at NBC. But even if O'Brien were to go to CBS as the Late Late host, there would be no assurances that Letterman would retire any sooner than Leno. O'Brien's NBC contract is up at the end of 2005.

The New York Post, meanwhile, touts Sedaris, who would be the first woman to host such a show since Joan Rivers had one in the late 1980s. It certainly helps matters that David Letterman is completely smitten with Amy, as the Late, Late Show follows Letterman on weeknights and is produced by Letterman's Worldwide Pants.

I personally would love to see Amy Sedaris as host. Amy Sedaris was born in New York City and was raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. She finally escaped, with brother David's encouragement, to Chicago where she took classes at Second City. Her brother David, by the way, is a well known playwright, bestselling author, a regular commentator for National Public Radio and was named by Time magazine as “Humorist of the Year' in 2001. Brother and sister have collaborated under the name 'The Talent Family' and have written several plays which have been produced at La Mama, Lincoln Center, and The Drama Department in New York City.

I have to admit, however, I really know of Amy from her regular stints on HBO's Sex and the City, playing a hilariously neurotic staffer at the company publishing a collection of Carrie's columns. According to her web site, Amy also shares her New York City abode with her imaginary boyfriend, Ricky and she recently lost her longtime companion, a black dwarf rabbit named Tattletail.