UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- Craig Ferguson strongly stuck up for future late-night-TV rival Jimmy Fallon yesterday, referring to Fallon as "the reverse Barack Obama."

In other words, people have judged Fallon negatively before he has done anything, as opposed to U.S. president-elect Obama, who has been judged positively before he has done anything.

"Give Jimmy a month before you review him -- that would be fair, I think," said Ferguson, the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS, during the Television Critics Association tour. NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon will compete directly with Ferguson when Fallon takes over from Conan O'Brien.

"Nobody knows how (Fallon) is going to do," Ferguson continued. "Let's be honest, how many of you thought I'd be sitting here four years (after his debut in 2005). Some of you gave me a couple of weeks.

"I've heard some negative stuff about Jimmy which I find a little surprising, given the fact he hasn't done anything yet. He's kind of like the reverse Barack Obama. He hasn't done anything yet and everybody is commenting on his performance. So give him a chance."

On a different subject, Ferguson -- who hosted the White House correspondents' dinner last year -- said he never would host the Academy Awards.

"No, I would not, because the best you can do is they ask you to do it again," Ferguson said. "I don't think they ever would ask me, but if they did, they would be wasting their time."