Fallon No Longer This Creepy

By Blake Townsley

Howdy folks, and welcome to the weekend. The more astute among my readers will notice that the heat of summer has brought a more irregular schedule to these musings on pop culture, which is a shame because there’s a lot to talk about lately. Let’s dive in, shall we?

I was going to start off with a discussion of Lindsay Lohan’s jail stint, or Mel Gibson’s audio recordings, but it seems like a shame to talk about the mentally infirm in such a public forum. Besides, I’m sure you guys are enjoying the break from all things Lohan as much as I am. If only it could last the full 90 days. No, we’ll be discussing her again soon enough when the post-jail interviews start, and the downward spiral resumes its march towards full frontal gratuitous nudity that’s too sad to enjoy. It’s gonna be Anna Nicole Smith all over again, minus the kids and the bajillion year-old oil geezer. So what’s next on the list if we’re trying to keep it light and Lohan-free? One of the topics I was gonna discuss was which Disney child star is going to end up in jail next, but that skirts the Lohan prohibition, and the answer  is too obvious for an entire posting.
Joe Jonas, I’m looking at you.

Nah, that stuff’s too negative. I’ve been in an irrationally exuberant mood this week, so let’s talk about something positive for once.  How about a discussion on how good the Jimmy Fallon Show has been for the last two or three months? That’s got a nice story to it, bunch of super talented people working on the show, Fallon himself and the incomparable Roots as the house band. But based on the reaction this subject has gotten among my friends when I bring it up, not many of you are watching any more, if you ever were.  I will admit the show started out on a discordant note, with Jimmy visibly nervous for much of the first two months. The nerves showed up during the monologue, but were most evident in Jimmy’s interviewing style, which could easily be described as “below-average first date conversation.” There was no rhythm to the interviews, with each person trying so hard to impress the other one that conversations didn’t have flow well at all. Jimmy frequently booked guests that he knew from his days at Saturday Night Live, which too easily provided the “Remember that time at SNL?” crutch. A conversational tic that quickly grew tiresome night after night.

So what’s changed? Well, in the case of The Roots, not a damn thing, which is perfectly fine since they were one of the only things making the show watchable for the first year. Watching the show is like getting a free mini-Roots concert every night, with the added bonus of seeing how funny the guys in the band really are. From appearances in sketches, to conversations during the monologue, and especially the choices of walkout music for guests, the Roots have proven to be an invaluable addition to the overall comedic tone of the show. And this is before discussing how awesome it is to see them back up random musical guests (Christopher Cross? Rashida Jones and Jimmy Fallon singing “Holiday Road”??!) and have ridiculously talented artists sit in with them like Kaki King, Taj Mahal, Ice Cube, Talib Kweli et al.

But seriously, what’s changed? OK, I’ll get to the point. The most important thing that’s changed is simply the amount of repetitions that Fallon has gotten. It may seem like the ability to host a late show is either there, or not. I mean, come on, Jay Leno’s had the most successful show for fifteen years now; it can’t be that hard, right? And Conan’s show after Leno was pure genius, right? Fallon just didn’t appear to have the chops a year ago, and most people wrote him off as not up to the task.

But what most people used to tuning into Conan’s Late Show and receiving the funny don’t remember the early years of Conan’s show. The story should sound familiar, a young guy handpicked by Lorne Michaels to host, but he really struggled finding his tone out of the gates, and people tuned it out, claiming it was hard to watch and unfunny.  Fast forward almost twenty years and Conan is a maligned genius, right? But even Conan’s transition to the Tonight Show proves the point I’m trying to make, which is that doing these shows well takes time and repetitions. Even if you tune in sporadically, you can tell when a host and supporting cast have been doing a show for a while. There’s a confidence and comfort in the presentation, and a flow and history to the jokes. Loyal viewers are rewarded with sharing the inside jokes that become themes almost accidentally, and new viewers can appreciate the enjoyment the hosts find in placing those jokes appropriately into new situations. The best example of the time it takes was the transition Conan made to the Tonight Show. Seemed like a no-brainer right? Conan would just be in LA and doing the same show as always, despite the somewhat seedy Leno hanging around at the behest of a rudderless and ball-less NBC. But the difference is that the same jokes don’t fly at 10:30 as ones that will at 11:30. Conan was visibly nervous too when the Tonight Show gig started. Hell, he didn’t even live up to his own standard until the surreal and macabre weeks leading up to the show’s demise, and then the gallows humor regarding his own situation were as funny as he’s ever been.
 
So after that lengthy digression, what was the point you were trying to make again, Blake? Simply this, that hosting one of these shows is hard work, and like anything, takes practice. Fallon is growing more and more comfortable in his own skin, and his natural I’d-totally-love-to-grab-a-beer-with-him charm is winning out over his occasional lapses into the SNL storytelling foibles of his past. At least until Conan comes back on, it’s probably the best all-around late night show you’re likely to see. So come on, kids, give Jimmy a chance. Or else I promise you nothing but weekly analyses of Lindsay Lohan’s mental state, and pictures of Mel Gibson.

Until next time, kids, have a great weekend.

Credits: Image by mystical_XVI

Notes

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