The Late Late Show" just completed its most successful season ever in the ratings, so you might think that host Craig Ferguson and executive producer Peter Lassally wouldn't have much of anything to argue about.

But they do. It's the necktie issue — Ferguson's refusal to wear one on the air.

The amiable Ferguson refers to it as "the first time I disobeyed Peter" — the man who hired him to host "The Late Late Show" and a late-night legend in his own right. (He produced Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" and David Letterman's "Late Night" and "Late Show.")

"He still doesn't like it. It's the one thing that drives a wedge between us," Ferguson said, his tongue planted firmly in cheek. "I don't like wearing a tie and he thinks I should wear a tie."

Not that it seems to matter much to viewers. Ferguson's "Late Late Show" finished the 2005-06 season as the most-watched since the show began in 1995 — better than it did with either Tom Snyder (1995-99) or Craig Kilborn (1999-2004) as hosts.

"The Late Late Show" was up 7 percent in households and 13 percent in viewers 25-54. Ferguson averaged 1.94 million viewers and put the show closer to NBC's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" (trailing 510,000 viewers) than it's been since 1995.

And all without a necktie.

"I don't hate to wear a tie. I just felt I was overdressed," Ferguson said. "I have nothing against ties or the great tie manufacturers of America and the backbone of our tie industry. I don't want to infuriate the tie people of the world.

"I just felt that at (11:37) it's probably excessive to wear a tie. Everybody else is in pajamas or leather at that time of night. And I was standing there dressed like I was going to a wedding. I just felt it was too much."

Maybe it's a bit generational — Lassally is nearly three decades older than Ferguson.

"Peter feels differently. But, of course, Peter wears a tie when he's sleeping," Ferguson said before noticing — to his surprise — Lassally was tie-less, too.

Neither of them really believes neckties have anything to do with viewership, despite a spate of reports somehow tying a bit of a spike in Jimmy Kimmel's ratings last year to the ABC host suddenly tying one on.

"Are you really that gullible?" Ferguson asked a critic who asked about it.

"I don't think the tie affects the ratings, no," Lassally said. "They say that Jimmy Kimmel's ratings went up. . . . I believe the fact that they may have gone up was because it was the last few weeks of 'Nightline,' of Ted Koppel."

"Who wore a tie for years and made America proud," Ferguson said.

He has no plans to resume wearing ties. And if he ever does tie one on again, it will have to be a new one.

"In fact, I sent my ties over to Jimmy," Ferguson said. "He's wearing my ties. "

LASSALLY CHOSE FERGUSON, but he admits he was a bit worried about one thing — the Scottish accent.

"I wondered about it when I felt that this was the right guy," Lassally said. "I thought, 'Gee, I wonder if people can understand him,' because I still don't understand him.

"But he is so likable that people . . . just get used to it and don't even notice it anymore. And it's just charming at this point."

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com