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24FPS
This transition will take some time to shake out. The Roots seem a little distant now, but I'm sure that will change as the show gets into it's normal grind. I've been fortunate enough to see all the Tonight Show hosts do their thing. (Steve Allen had a syndicated late night show in the early 60s, where Letterman got a lot of his stuff. And Jack Paar had an hour long Friday night prime time show for a few years after he left the Tonight Show). I always considered Leno the least talented of the group. Letterman should have followed Carson, but we know how that worked out.
Allen was funny and also a very good musician. Paar was a conversationalist. Carson was a hybrid, funny and he could do a decent sketch. Leno appealed to that vast gray audience out in the middle of America. Conan got screwed. All the Tonight Show hosts in the past were given a year or two to build their audience. Fallon, who I think will mature, is at a strange point. He can do sketches, musical and otherwise, and yes, he's a bit deferential to his guests, but someone like Seinfeld is bigger than Fallon star wise at this point.
The shift from Leno to Fallon is also a switch to a younger generation. Allen and Carson were big into big band music. Fallon's into rock. Both are musics skewed to a slightly older, but not too old, viewer. Fallon can even pull off hip hop, which spreads his net even further. He's already built up a good network of hard to get rock stars to appear on his show. Now they'll know they're appearing on the most prestigious show. Lorne Michaels, what a genius. Carson didn't want SNL to happen, and now Michaels runs the Tonight Show, SNL, and the new Late Night with Seth Meyers.
It's hard to find early Carson Tonight Shows to view, but he was a little insecure his first couple years. It took him a while to get that HUGE STAR persona, where in the end his fame dwarfed that of his guests. Fallon should be interesting to watch. He won't be as dominant as Carson, not with Kimmel and Letterman on at the same time. But the return to New York definitely gives it a different vibe. Should be fun.
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treaclefingers
I think Fallon is in a sweet spot right now. He can get U2 and the Stones...don't see Kimmel pulling that off.
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RollingFreakHe doesn't want to be a rock and roller. He respects the art of full blown comedy harkening back to the early days of SNL where performers would go all out to impersonate someone. Thats what he's channelling. But yes, he's also a big music fan. But no, he's definitely a comedian through and through and not a frustrated rocker at hear.Quote
owlbynite
I miss Jay already & think Jimmy, while likeable, may be the lesser of the evils available now. Too bad Dana Carvey was stricken with early heart disease some years back when he began climbing the late nite ladder after SNL. Also think Fallon is a frustrated rocker at heart and if he had his druthers would rather star in a rock 'n roll band. That's why he gets into full character & costume to sing, play guitar and consistently spoof and play alongside as many rockers as he can. But he's endearing himself to them (Lady GaGa couldn't give him enough kisses tonite & last nite) which should attract many musical acts, classic & new, to the show. Good for us!
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keefriffhard4life
fallon is not funny. why do people think he is?
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treaclefingersQuote
keefriffhard4life
fallon is not funny. why do people think he is?
Maybe because we have a sense of humour?
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treaclefingers
I think Fallon is in a sweet spot right now. He can get U2 and the Stones...don't see Kimmel pulling that off.
Kimmel doesn't seem to get the big names on his show but I like him. I think he's underrated. His show can be really funny and he as a laid-back self effacing style that is unique to late night TV.
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24FPSQuote
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treaclefingers
I think Fallon is in a sweet spot right now. He can get U2 and the Stones...don't see Kimmel pulling that off.
Kimmel doesn't seem to get the big names on his show but I like him. I think he's underrated. His show can be really funny and he as a laid-back self effacing style that is unique to late night TV.
I think that has been changing. He gets entire casts of movies. He recently had George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, and the rest, on one couch and a few chairs. Last night he had Matthew McConaughey. I don't know what bigger names are out there. Meryl Steep was on a few weeks ago. Am I missing some superstars? I think his show will profit from being the only big deal night time talk show in Hollywood.
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24FPSQuote
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treaclefingers
I think Fallon is in a sweet spot right now. He can get U2 and the Stones...don't see Kimmel pulling that off.
Kimmel doesn't seem to get the big names on his show but I like him. I think he's underrated. His show can be really funny and he as a laid-back self effacing style that is unique to late night TV.
I think that has been changing. He gets entire casts of movies. He recently had George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, and the rest, on one couch and a few chairs. Last night he had Matthew McConaughey. I don't know what bigger names are out there. Meryl Steep was on a few weeks ago. Am I missing some superstars? I think his show will profit from being the only big deal night time talk show in Hollywood.
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latebloomer
He comes off as a wannabe rock star.
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Godxofxrock9
Jay leno runied it for me when he took the tonight show from conan
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treaclefingersQuote
Godxofxrock9
Jay leno runied it for me when he took the tonight show from conan
hmmm...he ruined it for me when he took the tonight show from Johnny Carson.
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stoneheartedQuote
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Godxofxrock9
Jay leno runied it for me when he took the tonight show from conan
hmmm...he ruined it for me when he took the tonight show from Johnny Carson.
Actually, he was given the Tonight Show by Carson. If anyone at that time had the Tonight Show taken from them, it was Letterman.
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Godxofxrock9
Jay leno runied it for me when he took the tonight show from conan
hmmm...he ruined it for me when he took the tonight show from Johnny Carson.
Actually, he was given the Tonight Show by Carson. If anyone at that time had the Tonight Show taken from them, it was Letterman.
Nice try at revisionist history. Carson wanted Letterman for the spot. The NBC executives wanted Jay.
I think that always wounded Jay too.
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RollingFreakQuote
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treaclefingers
I think Fallon is in a sweet spot right now. He can get U2 and the Stones...don't see Kimmel pulling that off.
Kimmel doesn't seem to get the big names on his show but I like him. I think he's underrated. His show can be really funny and he as a laid-back self effacing style that is unique to late night TV.
I think that has been changing. He gets entire casts of movies. He recently had George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, and the rest, on one couch and a few chairs. Last night he had Matthew McConaughey. I don't know what bigger names are out there. Meryl Steep was on a few weeks ago. Am I missing some superstars? I think his show will profit from being the only big deal night time talk show in Hollywood.
He's had Oprah. I don't understand the argument that he doesn't get big guests. He's had all the biggest ones. And yes, he is 100% going to benefit from being the only huge Late Night show in Hollywood. Good for him because everyone will flock to that, and Fallon is safe because everyone loves him so much that they will make the trip. Its a win win for both, but Kimmel gets a huge boost for being alone in Hollywood basically. There's Conan, but thats not a network.
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Godxofxrock9
Jay leno runied it for me when he took the tonight show from conan
hmmm...he ruined it for me when he took the tonight show from Johnny Carson.
Actually, he was given the Tonight Show by Carson. If anyone at that time had the Tonight Show taken from them, it was Letterman.
Nice try at revisionist history. Carson wanted Letterman for the spot. The NBC executives wanted Jay.
I think that always wounded Jay too.
Actually, I wasn't trying at anything, revisionist or otherwise--I simply didn't know and thought it was Carson's decision to make. Plus the way Leno would show up as a guest sucking up with his "Thanks, boss!"
Ultimately, it was the right one, not to choose Letterman I mean. Letterman was too hip and quirky at the time, and his humor was more appealing to college students rather than the middle-America oldsters that Carson and his show attracted, whereas Leno was perfectly innocuous, if uncharismatic and utterly noniconic, distinguished only by his prominent chin rather than something one could create and cultivate in life--like a personality for starters.
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treaclefingers
OK, sorry for rip at ya! As a matter of fact, Carson appeared on Letterman's new show (at the time) as a show of support.