Conan O'Brien congratulates Jimmy Fallon on "Tonight Show" gig

[AKA]

[Schmoopie]

Wow, that was really classy and not a bit of cynicism or sarcasm whatsoever! I do really like Jimmy Fallon and I love his Capital One commercials. I hope they keep doing those because they are awesome!

[Dr. Thong]

Very classy, but I wouldn't have thought any less of him if he'd gotten in a dig at Jay Leno.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Dr. Thong

Very classy, but I wouldn't have thought any less of him if he'd gotten in a dig at Jay Leno.

It's a shame that Jimmy fallon will fail just Conan at the 11:35pm slot

[icecream]

Here's to Jimmy Fallon taking Jay Leno's 1st place and bringing it down to a distant 3rd just like Conan did. NBC,

[AKA]

Originally Posted by catsrule

Here's to Jimmy Fallon taking Jay Leno's 1st place and bringing it down to a distant 3rd just like Conan did. NBC,

Relax. You'll still be able to watch Leno on whatever network he ends up on. You can bet he isn't going away, and that his new show will be virtually identical to his current one.

[TMC]

http://thedailybanter.com/2014/06/ca...on-kind-sucks/

There isn’t a plane of existence where the name Jay Leno should be mentioned in the same breath as the name Mark Twain. Unfortunately, despite this fact, it was announced on Wednesday that Leno will be receiving the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the Kennedy Center this coming October. The honor represents the highest award for comedy in the United States and effectively instills upon Leno a credibility and place in American history that he most certainly doesn’t deserve. True, with one noteworthy break, Leno helmed The Tonight Show for 22 years, but honestly when the hallowed history of Tonight is mentioned, you often hear the names Allen, Parr, and of course Carson, but nobody in his right mind would drop Leno in with that company, regardless of his lengthy stewardship of the legendary property. Well, I take that back — I guess the Kennedy Center people would.

When NBC named Jimmy Fallon as the successor to Leno on The Tonight Show, it was tough to argue that the network hadn’t made a smart choice. Fallon was quirky but unthreatening, mildly clever without being the least bit cerebral, and smart but not smug. He had a broad-based appeal that would play perfectly at 11:35; the older crowd would think he was cute and endearing — or at the very least harmless — while the younger crowd would respond to his social media savvy. More importantly than any of that, he was a bona fide company man, an earnest lapdog who would ecstatically embrace the NBC way of shameless corporate synergy and cross-pollination. Want somebody who’ll interview the entire cast of the latest Universal film while the winner of Top Chef cooks for them and Matt Lauer troubleshoots their Comcast cable issues? Fallon’s your guy. Need somebody thoroughly beholden to the NBC system to the point where his balls and soul are both held in a vault in Lorne Michaels’s office and he’s guaranteed never to give you an ounce of trouble? Bring on Jimmy.

Here’s the only problem: while his ratings have been everything NBC could’ve wished for, Jimmy Fallon kind of sucks. As in, his take on The Tonight Show is in some ways even worse than Leno’s. It’s not that Fallon doesn’t occasionally do some funny bits, it’s that he’s so unfailingly benign and so unwilling to ever make anyone — his guests, the audience, anyone — the least bit uncomfortable that you feel like you need an insulin shot from all the sugar that’s being pumped into your bloodstream during his show. He certainly doesn’t need to be snarky or wry, that’s more the torch Jimmy Kimmel is carrying forward, but Fallon and his writing staff of apparent Thought Catalogers seem so thrilled to simply be there that the occasional edge that could benefit an interview or a show beat is never even considered. Believe it or not, the show suffers because of this.

What’s more, Fallon not only attempts to avoid anything that might cause a break in anyone’s fun, he willfully edits out serious moments if they happen naturally. Recently, an article on Shailene Woodley claimed that during the actress’s appearance on Tonight to promote Divergent, the show cut her answer to a question Fallon had asked about whether she minded being compared to Jennifer Lawrence. Woodley’s answer was no-nonsense and took to task Hollywood’s tendency to pit female stars against each other. Fallon’s people apparently thought it harshed the vibe or something because the exchange never saw the light of day.

Then just a couple of days ago came Chris Christie’s damn-near hallucinatory guest spot on Tonight in which he and Fallon did a sketch called “The Evolution of Dad Dancing” and Fallon thanked him for “standing in the ring and getting hit like that” by the press while sheepishly deflecting the conversation away from the reason the press was “hitting” him: because his administration almost certainly ordered part of the George Washington Bridge closed to punish a political adversary. Fallon is simply genetically incapable of asking a question that might get an answer that isn’t 100% unicorns and rainbows. Even Leno was able to slyly hammer Hugh Grant after the guy had been busted with a hooker.

Fallon’s sketches seem to aim largely at triggering the dopey nostalgia receptors in the brain, with the amusement to be gleaned from watching him and his guests dance, and sing, and rap Gen-X and Millennial favorites apparently being a limitless commodity. He gets the cast of Full House back together; he sings Ebony and Ivory with Terry Crews; and he of course pores over every possible hip-hop classic, either by lip-syncing, bringing out Justin Timberlake to do cheesy white-boy karaoke with the Roots, or editing Brian Williams intros into Baby Got Back. It’s not that it’s not funny or charming on occasion, it’s just that it’s not on occasion. It’s constant. Fallon has one speed and only one speed: cloying and cutesy. He seeks out maximum Facebook viral circulation and hits precisely the insipid notes necessary to achieve that, turning The Tonight Show — one of the most storied properties in media history — into broadcast television’s answer to Upworthy. Fallon is a living, breathing hashtag.

Now certainly Fallon knows that the word broadcast is what matters. He’s aiming for the broadest possible audience and maybe that’s a laudable thing in an age where media saturation has removed the old cultural touchstones we as a nation used to experience together. There will never be another Johnny Carson precisely because there can’t be — our media choices are too expansive and diverse now and it’s split the audience into too many different subsets. But Fallon is trying to use social media to connect all the dots out there and give Americans something they can share in, even if they don’t share it in the traditional way. The problem is that there’s no meat to Fallon and that’s what’s needed to move his shtick beyond being just, well, shtick. Guys like Carson weren’t just funny, they were insightful and empathetic; they knew when to turn on the charm but also when to turn up the class and even subtly go for the throat. They knew that there’s more than one way to be entertaining. Fallon doesn’t seem to grasp that yet — although admittedly there’s time for him.

As long as his ratings hold, The Tonight Show will be Fallon’s for as long as he wants it. Hell, one day he may even be honored by the Kennedy Center. At which point he’ll probably take the stage and do a rap battle with the cast of Friends.

Read more at http://thedailybanter.com/2014/06/ca...2ZKZb3tpAXf.99

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity....#entry16541396

If Jimmy is number one with his unfunny bits, bad monologues and inability to interview, I don't see how Colbert who is very witty, has humor where you might need to think, will appeal to the late night audience. Plus, Colbert doesn't have the "gosh golly, I'm not very talented, but I'm cute", thing that Jimmy has had since he was in SNL steering up skits and the news, by giggling like a child who has no experience on stage. Then again, when simple minded sitcoms, and reality tv are winning the ratings war, Jimmy makes sense.

I don't get the appeal of Jimmy, he was awful on SNL. I get why celebrities love him, since he ass kisses like crazy, but I almost feel embarrassed for him when he interviews, or does his very childish and obvious comedy skits.

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity....#entry16537197

I tuned in again last night, and just found the "pro's and cons", obvious and not funny at all. The writing from this show is like SNL, which mostly sucks lately. I think Jimmy shines on some of the music skits, but otherwise, the writing is awful, he can't interview and can't deliver jokes at all.

I agree that if a female was as inept as he is, she would first of all never have the job, and second, be criticized to death. I think Jimmy is not criticized a lot because he is a professional brown noser! He "loves" everyone, kisses butt, and therefore everyone loves him back, but he really is no way very good at this job.

When I think back to him being on SNL, he was not even good at doing skits or reading the news. He would laugh all of the time, and break out of character, ruining the skits.

I think Jimmy got as far as he has by being "cute" and the little likable altar boy type. He also knows how to leap on feed off of others' talent, like Tina Fey. Tina Fey is way way more talented and wrote all of the news bits, Jimmy sat there looking cute, laughing and barely delivering the lines. But yet, he is given talk shows, because he is a man, and heaven forbid a woman shoujld be hosting a show on late night!

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity....#entry16538145

Jimmy Fallon is prominently featuring bits that would have been considered tired on the old Steve Allen Tonight Show (Pros and Cons and Thank You Notes). His monologues are dull and his riffing with his sidekick isn't nearly as funny as he seems to think it is. He has an engaging personality, but it's buried underneath his relentless fanboy-ness. Carson was a dick, but you could see the intelligence behind every joke and pointless celebrity interview. Fallon needs to relax a little and let some of his natural warmth come through.

But make no mistake about it: Fallon's ability to integrate his eclectic musical sensibility into his show is a huge step forward from Carson, Leno and all the other Tonight Show hosts before him. Last night's musical comedy extravaganza would have been unimaginable on any other show.

Think about that last half hour:

Chad Smith/Will Ferrell drum-off

Red Hot Chili Peppers (w/Ferrell on cowbell!) performing Blue Oyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) the Reaper"

RHCP and the Roots performing Parliament/Funkadelic's "Standing on the Verge of Getting it On"

RHCP and the Roots performing "Give it Away"

This is amazing, spectacular television, and I'm willing to suffer through Fallon's growing pains in the Big Chair if we get more moments like this. Yes, it may seem that Fallon is only cool because the Roots are cool, and his musical guests are cool--but remember, it's Fallon's taste that's being reflected. Give him some more time.

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity....#entry16529006

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critic...ision_nussbaum

(Unfortunately it's behind a paywall, otherwise I would link it here.) Basically it says there's a disconnect between his charming persona put forward by puff-piece articles and the jokes he tells on the show--like the umpteenth fat joke about Chris Christie. It also points out how he tends to drive bits down to the ground fast (like the panda--funny the first night, got old the second night), and how he gushes over everyone and doesn't seem to have an opinion beyond "That's so cool." The author even says that if a female host were to have these qualities, she would be torn apart--which I agree with.

The article even points out that ?uestlove may be the band leader, though his presence is what gives Jimmy credibility, to the point where it feels ?uest should be the host. Also this observation:

I know there's still a few fans of the show on here, but the article really called to attention a lot of what's made the show unappealing to me lately. I've said before that the quality took a nosedive after the Barack Obama appearance (or even the Indianapolis shows), and Jimmy's "I love everyone and everything and things are so great and so awesome" shtick is beginning to grate. Sure, he's great for viral bits on Youtube the next morning, but the show overall has become stale. It's sad to see, considering he was doing some real interesting stuff on Late Night. I remember them trying new things every week--what else besides the panda has been new? The Fallonventions segment is a GE ad in disguise, just like the Ford contest was (though the truck thing was much more underhanded and sneaky). I know that humor is subjective and all, but I've lost interest in the show.

Nine Things I Hate About Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon Isn't Funny

My biggest issue w/ Fallon (besides his relentless "fanboyism" towards his guests and always giggling during skits) is that after a while, it's quite easy to figure out the "repetition" of his shtick or humor. Fallon can only go so far w/ his non-stop enthusiasm (I guess what I'm trying to say, is that besides lacking a certain "edge" or "bite" Fallon's comedy seems awfully shallow or predictable) before it's time to "act like a grown up" so to speak. I think this is partially why his film career didn't pan out as well as expected. What makes for a good five or so minute SNL skit, can't exactly translate into a feature length movie. In effect, he has to rely on or differ towards the talent of others so to speak like Tina Fey for example.

[TMC]

http://www.newsweek.com/fallon-king-...k-shows-305629

"The Tonight Show host is certainly the most versatile talk show host since Steve Allen, says John Walters. But, he adds, "watching and listening to Fallon interview a guest is simply more painful and awkward than every conversation that ever took place between Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper. Everything a guest has ever done, including the film, TV show or album he or she is there to promote, is either 'amazing' or 'awesome.'"