A Running Diary of Jimmy Fallon's New Show

Conan O'Brien has been a fixture of my weekday nights since high school. The man is goofy, and just plain funny. I can't think of any other late night show host who has made me squeal and snort from laughing to hard. Starting in June he's going to move to Jay Leno's old spot, and as a result he has moved to LA. I hope he doesn't change, though he probably will because he has to appeal to a wider audience. Anyway, this isn't about Conan. I figured I'd keep a running diary of Jimmy Fallon at the helm of the Late Night. Without Further ado...

11:37pm
The show opens with Jimmy Fallon getting ready in his dressing room. His predecessor, Conan, is there picking up the last of his things. Funny little awkward interaction. A little passing of the torch.This looks promising.

11:38pm
The opening sequence is definitely more urban. This is complimented with having The Roots as his backing band. Could be my own bias, but they're no Max Weinberg. Max Weinberg was funny in that sketchy pervert sort of way.

11:39pm
Jimmy Fallon just walked out looking a little uptight. He does not have the same loose energy than conan. I wonder if he'll laugh at his own jokes. First joke kind of bombed, followed by a series of mediocre ones.

11:45
First segue segment-- before the interviews. This was probably the thing Conan did the best with sketches like "in the year 2000", "the masturbating bear", etc. It's really is unfortunate that he has to fill for Conan. He ends ths first segment with a plea of 'come on right back, please!'. A little dseperate. I'd give this a C for effort.

11:51
Lick it for 10? This kind of strikes me as a leno-like segment. What makes Conan more appealing than Leno is conan's ability to be more risque than his predecessor. Unfortunately Jimmy isn't taking advantage of this later timespot. Lick it for 10 is basically people licking lame objects for 10 bucks. The first guy licked a lawn mower, the girl licked a printer, and the third guy is licking a goldfish bowl. This was entirely pointless and a waste of five minutes. Definitely an F

Sidenote: This got me thinking. My friend Ned asked me if Jimmy Fallon was funnier/better than Carson Daly, and that's a blatant yes. Who isn't? Also, how much does it suck to be him. You follow Conan for 3 plus years, and when Conan gets bumped up to the first slot, instead of him being promoted, they bring someone else. I wonder how that conversation went. " No, it's not you ,it's....well, yeah, actually it's you. We figured we'll just keep you where you are. What's that? No one knows your on tv? That's not true! Stoners and a drunkards watch your show! And sure, they may be too fucked up to know you're on, but hey it's better than no audience right?"

11:59
Firsrt Guest is Robert DeNiro. One of the things that Conan excelled in was in having a great dynamic with his guests. Deniro looks like he doesn't want to be there. Oh man, this is so awkward. Why do people think they can always impersonate DeNiro. Very few people do a good job. Paul Rudd does a wonderful Deniro in 'Knocked Up'. Anyway, interview over. D.

12:17
Justin Timberlake is on. This has devolved into an inside joke of a sketch they did on SNL together. 'What was I going to say, now I'm lost,' said jimmy. truest thing you've said tonight, buddy. You ARE lost.B-

12:25
The camera pans into a wide shot. Again, we see DeNiro thinking to himself 'wtf am I doing here'.

12:28
Van Morisson is the musical guest. Nothing really much to say about the musical guests. they're all the same.

12:35
Well, show's over. Nothing worth writing home about. Overall, it'd give it a D+. At least he's trying.