Last month, Jimmy Kimmel paid a visit to “Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson,” and — naturally — the host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” wondered why the host of “Late Late Show” was quitting. Ferguson leaves Friday, the day after Stephen Colbert ends “The Colbert Report.”

“I can’t take it anymore,” he shot back, and then — just to elaborate on the comic-existential crisis that led to his departure: “It’s a short time on this planet, man, I’m not spending the whole time talking to celebrities.”

Admittedly, it’s been a loopy few weeks on “Late Late Show,” but in some ways, no more than usual. Ferguson does like to speak his mind, and has done so often with refreshing candor and comic effect for a decade. But he doesn’t mention everything that’s on his mind. He has a small, passionate viewer base, which esteems his brand of humor, but that base never entirely extended to his own employer.

As such, the host and his production staff often felt like foundlings — never entirely appreciated by CBS, and when the time came to replace David Letterman at “Late Show,” the call did not go out to that other CBS late-show host.

Ferguson — who began January 2005 — will be replaced by British actor James Corden on March 9. In the meantime, Ferguson remains gainfully employed elsewhere, although there is a touch of irony with his other job: He is host of the syndicated show “Celebrity Name Game.”