'Carpool Karaoke' Spin-Off Series Gets Green Light

(CBS SF/AP) — James Corden presides over his late-night show's "Carpool Karaoke" segment, but the series spin-off will have a succession of hosts.

Celebrity pairs including Alicia Keys and John Legend, Ariana Grande and Seth MacFarlane, and Blake Shelton and Chelsea Handler will be featured on the 16-episode series to be released weekly on Apple Music. A debut date has yet to be announced.

Corden, who will appear with Will Smith on one episode, said he was proud "The Late Late Show" has created a segment that works so well it will stand on its own. Make that two bits: A project based on his "Drop the Mic" rap battle segment is set for TBS this year.

"I'm incredibly proud we have a late-night talk show that 18 months ago a majority of the room were going, 'Who the hell is this guy?'" Corden told a meeting Monday of the Television Critics Association.

The British Corden was a U.S. TV newcomer when he took over as host of CBS' "Late Late Show" in 2015, but he'd already won a 2012 Tony Award for Broadway's "One Man, Two Guvnors."

His karaoke segments, in which Corden drives while a pop-star passenger joins him in song, has become a viral sensation. Does he have advice to those who will take the wheel for the new series?

"This is only a waste of time if you don't enjoy it," he said. "That enjoyment, that joy, that sort of unbridled freedom of singing in a car, is the glue that holds it all together."

Driving and singing aren't an issue, he said: The rule is head in a straight line.

"I'd rather do it here than in London. That's much harder," Corden said.

TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten. The Associated Press contributed to this report.