He’s a sly one, that James Corden – after months of insisting his new job hosting The Late Late Show was destined to be a disaster, he has been nominated for a prestigious award just weeks into his role.

Of course, us Brits never doubted James for a minute and couldn’t be happier for him that US viewers are now discovering his charms, as he goes up against chat heavyweights Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon in the best talk show category at the Critics’ Choice TV Awards.

James might be the new kid on the block since starting as host in March, but he’s already clocked up plenty of TV gold moments in his few short weeks on screen.

The Late Late Show
James Corden interviews Mila Kunis and Tom Hanks for The Late Late Show (Monty Brinton/CBS Entertainment)

A strong opening

If there were any doubters about whether James would make a good host, he silenced them in his first show by booking Tom Hanks and Mila Kunis as his opening guests.

For a brief moment, we even thought he’d got Mila to reveal that she had married Ashton Kutcher… but she turned out to be joking.

Even so, first reviews were very supportive of the incoming presenter.

The best car pool ever

Comedy actor James was always going to have a strong suit in sketches for the programme. Add to that his talent for singing, and he’s onto a winner.

An early car pool sketch with Mariah Carey as his commuter mate had audiences in stitches, while James looked like a sing-a-long with Mariah was a dream come true.

Not just a pretty face

It isn’t just his amiable personality that makes him a great host – James, who starred as The Baker in the film adaptation of musical Into The Woods, has been putting his singing voice to good use.

As well as his sketch with Mariah, he has sung along with Gavin James, performed the hits of Grease on the streets of Los Angeles, and even managed to outperform stage legend Idina Menzel.

Here he is belting out (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life with her.

Keeping his cool

However, it’s not all musical theatre for James.

When Mark Ronson was a guest recently, the presenter upped his own cool factor for the occasion, turning to rapping while producer Mark took up a spot in the DJ booth behind him.

James started out pretending to give a cringe-worthy performance, but revealed he was bluffing when he competently rapped his way through the opening credits.

He doesn’t mind being the butt of the joke

One of the things that makes James’s fans so quick to laugh along with him is that he is totally fine with being the joke.

To celebrate US tradition Cinco de Mayo, which involves a pinata, he dressed up as a giant multicoloured “Cordenata” and allowed his guests LL Cool J and Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting to hit him with sticks.

When fellow Brit, former footballer and underwear model David Beckham popped up on The Late Late Show, undaunted by Becks’ sculpted physique, James stripped down to his pants for a spoof ad with him.

Bringing in Hollywood muscle

After Tom Hanks’ appearance on his debut episode was such a hit, James recycled his sketch recreating the actor’s biggest movies with another famous guest.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the latest stars to join the talk show host and had plenty of material to race through in a six-minute mash up.

Highlights included The Terminator films, Arnie’s muscle-bound role in Pumping Iron, and a very different take on a sexy scene from True Lies.

Guests everyone wants

James is a magnet for big name guests that every chat show host wants to land, especially when they hail from the UK.

He spoke to Simon Cowell recently about Zayn Malik’s recent departure from One Direction and is now set to go one better – by landing the first US interview with the lads since they became a four piece.

Of course, it helps that they’re already good mates of his, but we can’t wait to see what James has in store for them when they appear in an upcoming episode.