Last night, Jimmy Fallon took over the hosting duties of The Tonight Show, which has an incredible history on NBC. Ratings for the first night were at around 11.314 million, which is pretty good for a program that premiered at midnight Eastern. The late night landscape is changing to a more younger skewing audience. And Fallon has connected to the younger crowd very well during his time at “Late Night.” Fallon is fashioning his stint after the original host, Steve Allen. And for episode one, I thought Jimmy Fallon did a great job!
For starters, Jimmy Fallon talked about his family, career, and welcomed new viewers to his show. The set looks great and I am sure Jimmy’s parents are proud!
Next, Jimmy did a bit called Tonight Show Superlatives: Sochi Winter Olympics, which I thought was good.
Next, Jimmy Fallon collected $100 bets from people who doubted him of becoming the Tonight Show host. Some cameos included Robert De Niro, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Mike Tyson, Joe Namath, and Stephen Colbert. I loved how Stephen Colbert welcomed Jimmy Fallon to 11:30 pm!
And the most viral video from night one, is the Evolution of Hip-Hop Dancing with Will Smith. Jimmy’s and Will’s dancing was funny to watch, I loved it!
The first show was great and my favorite part was the U2 performance on the top of 30 Rock with a New York City sunset! Most of what you saw during the “Late Night” tenure with Jimmy Fallon is going to be carried over to The Tonight Show. I am also curious to see what new features Jimmy Fallon and the writers will come up with. In our social media / internet world today, not only you have to create a show people will watch on TV or online. You have to create video clips and funny memes on many social media networks! So far, Jimmy Fallon is on track to becoming a legendary Tonight Show host, but there is one worry.
Here’s my one worry about this version of The Tonight Show. When Jay Leno was the host, he connected to all parts of America, including Middle America and the Republican faithful. Jay’s jokes connected to all types of people with different ways of thinking. With The Tonight Show back in New York City, just about everything NBC produces is shot out of 30 Rock. After a few months, will the ratings hold up with Jimmy Fallon as host? The Olympics are giving The Tonight Show a huge boost, but what happens when NBC goes back to their mediocre primetime programming?
Yes, I see Jay Leno coming back on TV later this year, after his contract with NBC is up. And Jimmy Fallon has to compete in an evergrowing late night TV landscape with ABC, CBS, TBS, and Comedy Central. So we will see how Jimmy Fallon does in his new role, I hope he does well! He connects to the Millennial generation very well and their videos on YouTube gets lots of views. Let’s hope NBC does not pull another Conan O’Brien and brings back Jay Leno once again, that will be a huge embarrassment to NBC!
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon airs on latenight on NBC. To learn more go to: http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/
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