Apple’s Carpool Karaoke show will roll with a new host each episode

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Carpool Karaoke
Missy and Michelle be puttin' it down in Carpool Karaoke.
Photo: CBS Studios

Instead of having a single host, Apple’s upcoming TV show Carpool Karaoke will put someone new in the driver’s seat each episode.

The company also plans to add more interview elements to the show, which was created by Late Late Show host James Corden. The show will pair different musicians and celebrities for each of the first 16 episodes during Season 1.

Executive producer Eric Pankowski told Variety that tons of nonmusical celebrities demanded to be put in the car with Corden for the bit on the Late Late Show. Pankowski says putting someone like Will Smith in the car didn’t make sense for the show, but on Apple Music it works.

Lining up hosts

“So many people have been getting in touch with us, big movie stars, and we’re like, ‘That’s not really for us,’ but here with Apple Music it’s perfect,” Pankowski said in an interview. “We thought about places to go with it, but we’d also heard Apple wanted to get into the video business, and because of the show and its celebration of music, we went to them. They grabbed it with both hands right off the jump.”

An official release date for the show hasn’t been announced. A few of the pairs have been revealed, including John Legend with Alicia Keys, Seth MacFarlane with Ariana Grande, Billy Eichner with Metallica, and talk show host Michael Strahan with NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon.

Even though Apple is making Carpool Karaoke into a TV show, Corden plans to keep doing the segment on his show.

“We can only do it so many times” on Late Late Show, he said. “We’ve done 300 shows and we’ve done it, what, 23 times?”

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