The Tonight Show was a part of my upbringing. My father watched it every night. It was a special privilege to watch it with him when I didn't have school the next day. I actually remember Jack Paar and of course Johnny Carson. I was never a big fan of Conan and though Leno did a great job, I stopped staying up late to watch him.
But in his last week on the Tonight Show I watched Jay Leno say goodbye. And I watched him introduce Jimmy Fallon. Even before the announcement was made that Fallon would follow Leno as the host of the program I had seen Fallon on his own show. It was and is my opinion that he is incredibly talented, engaging and of course very funny. So I watched with great anticipation as his first appearance as host of the Tonight Show debuted. I was very disappointed.
No doubt landing that job is a great accomplishment and he had every right to celebrate it with his new audience in New York and across the nation. But Fallon made a terrible mistake. He made the show about him.
The Tonight Show has always been about the guests. It is the place to showcase the talent of the guests and to make them look good. Fallon couldn't help himself in his interview with Will Smith for example and stepped all over Smith's lines and acted up behind the desk as if people were tuning into the Jimmy Fallon show. I wasn't. I was tuned in to watch a new host of the Tonight Show, and I expected a gracious host who had the good sense to let his guests shine and to provide support, play straight man, add the occasional funny quip then back off and let the show be the show. Fallon made it all about Jimmy.
I know it's an huge gold star for Jimmy Fallon to be the new host of the most revered tradition in all late night television, but even the name change is telling. No longer is it "The Tonight Show WITH Jay Leno", it is now "The Tonight Show STARRING Jimmy Fallon". In other-words they made Fallon the star of the show. That is a fundamental transformation and it was evident last night.
I'd prefer that Fallon go back to what made Carson great, but then again I'm from an older generation and admittedly I don't stay up to watch anymore. I suspect that the executives at NBC have calculated that they need a new younger audience tuning in to see a personality every night rather than a parade of notables and stars. Okay, it's their network and they are the ones taking the gamble.
But as for me, I think that if I can't quite get to sleep and need to turn on the tube after 11:30 I'm heading over to watch Jimmy Kimmel. And I'll bet the ratings show something very similar as soon as the shine wears off the new penny at NBC. Unless, that is, Fallon honors the tradition as much as he says he does and makes the show about his guests and not about him.
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