Did we fall through a crack in space and time?  Did a late night American talk show, a network late night American talk show, really devote an entire hour to Doctor Who?

Why yes, yes it did.  Matt Smith made his American talk show debut last night on the delightfully irreverent Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.  Despite an aborted opening dance number (as reported by audience members in attendance) featuring Ferguson singing over the Doctor Who Theme, the show was mad romp of site gags, harmonicas and good-natured teasing.  Unfortunately, fans will have very little to pick over this a.m. other than Matt’s hipster sartorial style.  He confirmed the Utah filming (Monument Valley, of course) and had a typically cryptic response to the standard “How long will you play The Doctor” question but dropped no new nuggets of information.

What he did do was raise Doctor Who‘s stateside profile.  The studio audience was loaded with fans, including one gentlemen in a snappy tweed and bow-tie combo, but I would guess is a good portion of Ferguson’s viewing audience had passing or little knowledge of Doctor Who.  Last night’s show may not have been heavy on Who-content other than a clip from The Vampires of Venice and bits of trivia, but it did give Smith a well-deserved moment in the spotlight.  As far as Matt’s turn in the guest chair, his sense of humor and natural charm won out over his predecessor’s media experience.  In similar guest appearances Christopher Eccleston was calm reason and intellect, David Tennant witty and and charismatic while, in comparison, Matt tripped over his responses a bit more but made up for any awkwardness by being engaging and fun.  Then again, I’m not sure how the former Doctors would have held up to Ferguson, a man who has never met an entendre he couldn’t double or triple.

Well done, Matt. Thanks for bringing us a pre-Christmas shot of Doctor Who and, in an amusing twist, giving North American fans something to crow about while our U.K. brethren refreshed their browsers madly.

Speaking of refreshing browsers, how long before someone uploads the forbidden dance number?