The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

As many years as I've watched The Tonight Show, I'm finding it less funny. The humor isn't cerebral...not that it was ever "smart" but at least i could see the effort. Now it's silly and stupid...no "guffaws" from me!!

Jimmy...please have guests on that we know well...not who you think we know. And make sure they are humorous....not just giggle and repeat what Jimmy's just said.

The only good thing about the show...The Roots!!

Jimmy Fallon has a modicum of talent and can pull off some funny bits but hosting the 60 minute TONIGHT SHOW 5 nights a week is obviously more than he can handle. He seems like an okay guy but he's an example of The Peter Principle in play.

Johnny Carson was the Gold Standard for hosting this show. He had charisma and depth. He could do political and social commentary, do comedy skits and handle all kinds of interviews from the serious to the silly. I still watch him on DVDs - stuff I've seen and enjoyed before.

Leno was good and usually worth staying up to watch. Politically, he leaned left but Obama was easy fodder for his jokes. Leno's interviewing skills didn't match Carson but he could handle man-on-the-street stuff and showed us how ignorant too many Americans are.

I've given Fallon about 10 tries but concluded he's not worth staying up for or even setting the DVR. The band is absolutely awful. Don't know what Fallon's ratings are or how long his contract runs but I will not be among his viewers.

Jimmy has tried to be a show of variety and class since the beginning, and I really was surprised that he managed to do that out of the big three. I honestly believed that he was going to regurgitate talking points but instead he stirred clear mostly of those things and gave a wide spectrum of audience what they want, comedy, or attempted comedy on the bad nights. Thanks Jimmy, you have proven to be consistent, I wish all the best for you if you continue your thing.

I was one of the very few people who thought Jimmy Fallon wasn't really that bad on SNL. He could be funny when the material was right. In his talk show, he's funny *only* when he breaks out of script and goes with the flow of the conversation, which happens rarely. When he sticks to the questions and talking points on his cards, you're in for the same dull snorefest mediocrity that passes for a talk show nowadays.

I realize that the days of Johnny Carson, or even David Letterman, are gone. This is a different era. I also realize that American talk shows are different from the others, e.g. British talk shows, where the guests are the real stars, and the hosts only guide them and try to bring out the best in them. No, in American talk shows, the hosts are the stars (remember Ellen, anyone?) and the guests are only seen as a nuisance who steal from their airtime.

I say talk show, and there is indeed a lot of talk (about nothing, mostly) but what annoys me is how superficial it all comes off. An actor comes on, for instance, someone you like, to talk about his latest movie. But after 10 minutes of chit chat, you never get any insights about the actor, or his movie, or anything at all. It's just a lot of pointless nonsense. If these guests are coming on to promote their stuff, they should be aware that they're not promoting anything.

If you watch regularly for a few episodes, you notice quite a few patterns as well, and they're not good: A good many minutes every episode is "Thank you for coming here." "Thank you for having me." Thank you for thanking me." Thanks for saying that." etc.

Then you have the incredible amount of (not-so-)hidden product placement. Jimmy makes a joke about a brand of candy, let's say. For two weeks, sometimes for a month in a row, you'll hear jokes, songs, chat, stories, sometimes even memories that contain references to that particular candy.

It could still work, of course, if they showed a bit of effort to make the talks interesting. I mean, it's a "talk show" after all, at least that's what they call it. So perhaps it's pointless to expect much else, and settle for a few minutes of so-so entertainment. But one struggles to find even that. Jimmy comes off like a wide-eyed, rural 12-year old who is having his first trip to the city, and is surprised to hear the name of any celebrity: "Oh my God! You talked to Rihanna?!" "No way! You met Brad Pitt?! He's the most incredible human being, isn't he?!"

It's really inconceivable. They spend so much money on production, a great band, sets, staff, bring on stars and famous faces etc.... yet you don't remember anything about it 5 minutes after you watch the whole thing.

Final word, not just for Jimmy, but for all talk shows: please get rid of the games.

Agree with reviewers who say that Fallon can pull off some funny bits but doesn't have the stuff to produce a consistently funny and entertaining full show night after night. Understand that a younger guy is supposed to appeal to a younger audience but the incessant giggling/shouting/screaming/hiding under the desk makes it unlikely that he will ever graduate from the third grade. He doesn't engage very well with guests on the show; the silly games are not a substitute for either serious or comic interaction with those appearing on the show. He might consider letting some of his accomplished guests, Seinfeld for example, do a comedy bit on their own. Also agree that the band doesn't add much to the show; would be better just to have higher quality musical guests and have them do two performances as on SNL. Bottom line - Comedy has a lot of staying power but silly gets old in a hurry; Fallon doesn't seem to know the difference between comedy and silly. At the end of the day (haha - get it?!), Jimmy seems to have succumbed to the same problem that plagues SNL; maybe he spent too much time there - take a one-time clever and humorous idea and then repeat it over and over until viewers are sick of it.