Next year marks a changing of the guard for Conan O'Brien from Late Night to The Tonight Show. It'll be an easy transition for the fair-skinned one since he's already got a recipe for success: a die-hard audience, smart and inventive writers and puppets that curse. The real challenge will be for Jimmy Fallon, Conan's Late Night successor, who hasn't had much TV time since he left Saturday Night Live for a movie career that made Chevy Chase's lineup look Lawrence Olivier-ian.
Variety reports that Fallon will first test the airwaves' waters instead of doing a full-blown cannonball by starring in some "webisodes" on NBC.com starting Monday.
The web shows -- first announced by Lorne Michaels at the summer TCAs -- will feature Fallon in his natural habitat behind the scenes of various club gigs. They will also feature Fallon's new digs at NBC as he prepares to take over the show in 2009.
Hopefully the web show will shed some more light on the darkness that is Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. NBC hasn't spilled much in the way of details. So far, all we know is the show's executive producer will be Gavin Purcell, the man behind G4's Attack of the Show, and hip-hop group The Roots will be his house band, delivering the final death blow to the hopes and dreams of aspiring swing and big band musicians everywhere.
Even if Fallon seems to be steering the ship towards a hipper, younger crowd, it will be interesting to watch Fallon avoid the icebergs along the way. Despite the snark of some, Fallon's show shouldn't be viewed as a total train wreck before it even hits the rabbit ears. Besides, part of the fun of watching a train wreck is the anticipation before the carnage crescendoes.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-06-2008 @ 10:42AM
Jimmy said...
> Despite the snark of some, Fallon's show shouldn't be viewed as a total train wreck before it even hits the rabbit ears.
He'll have to get on the air pretty quick if he wants to hit the rabbit ears.
Mark my words: His show -- regardless of when and/or where it debuts -- is going to suck.
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12-06-2008 @ 11:28AM
miller980 said...
Mr. Gallagher, do you work for NBC? That would be the only logical reason you would make the statement that Conan's move to the Tonight Show will be an easy transition. When there are weeks when Ferguson can beat him in the ratings, it's clear this will not be an easy transition. If Leno decides to go to another 11:30 spot, Conan can call it a day.
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12-06-2008 @ 12:02PM
Ian said...
One word missing from Late Night shows since Carson retired: Starring.
How about Late Night Starring Jimmy Fallon. Or the CBS Evening News Starring Katie Couric?
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12-06-2008 @ 1:53PM
doug said...
I kinda like Jimmy Fallon. He was funny on SNL. I have no reason to believe he won't be funny. I hope they at least give him a decent chance to find its own niche. Conan is no Johnny but look how Leno managed to be on top. All he needed was time. Jimmy is no Leno but he may become something close.
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12-06-2008 @ 3:40PM
Andrew said...
Those words are blasphemy on the Internet. Nobody is supposed to like him.
12-07-2008 @ 7:55AM
Jimmy said...
> Jimmy is no Leno but he may become something close.
Faint praise, indeed!
12-06-2008 @ 4:21PM
jordancda said...
Haha...too true. You'll get burned at the stake for saying you think Jimmy is funny on the internets.
And with that, I think Jimmy Fallon is really funny.
I'm looking forward to the show.
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12-06-2008 @ 5:20PM
Joseph said...
I'm with you. I think Fallon is awesome. I had no idea until I read this that anyone felt any less than I do about Jimmy, and I love him.
Stoners around the country will tune in as well as girls in their twenties.
I don't know how the schedule correlates with The Daily Show/Colbert Report, but that is his audience.
12-08-2008 @ 1:31PM
0megapart!cle said...
You obviously don't know the Daily Show's audience if you think that Fallon has a chance in hell of grabbing a significant amount of them.
12-06-2008 @ 6:44PM
royce said...
NBC has to be worried. Craig is already beating Conan. Jimmy Kimmel is pretty strong. Jimmy Fallon is going to have to get good fast, especially if Fox ends up getting Jay, rumors you know... and run Spike Fierstein after him. Jimmy Fallon is going to be the ameture. That was fine for Conan, who had almost no competition in 1993 at 12:30.
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12-06-2008 @ 8:02PM
corkdraw said...
Ugh. I hate this guy. Song parody comedians aren't funny.
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12-06-2008 @ 11:42PM
gbusters84 said...
NBC's soon-to-be biggest mistake will be replacing Leno with Conan on the Tonight Show. Don't get me wrong, I love Conan. He's quirky his show has great characters, the writing is sharp and he's a great interviewer, however, I just don't think he appeals to as big of a demographic as Leno does. While I'm not the biggest Leno fan, (next to Johnny Carson, Letterman will always be number one in late night to me) he's been number one in his time slot since taking over. And NBC wants to give him the boot? Why? Out of fear of losing Conan to another network once his contract expires? Probably. Except now, every network is courting Leno, "unofficially" trying to make a deal for a new show. So what happens if ABC gives Leno the 10:30? Now NBC will have to compete with the number one man (in terms of ratings) in late night. Stupid move, NBC!!! Not to mention the fact that Conan's ratings have slightly slipped over the past few months and recently Craig Ferguson has pulled ahead by a slight margin. While I love Conan, I can definitely see why Ferguson is getting higher ratings--the guy is the only one in late night doing something different and fresh. So unless Conan busts out some top-notch material next year, and/or Leno doesn't get a new show, I'd say NBC will be kicking themselves in the head once again. Thoughts anyone?
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12-08-2008 @ 1:37PM
0megapart!cle said...
Any success Craig has garnered just shows you the stupidity of network late night viewers. He is so unbelievably unfunny, I think my ears actually bled the last time I stumbled upon his show in the late hours.
Leno is the fucking Master of the Universe of Comedy compared to Ferguson. I place the late night anchors in the following order of quality:
Stewart > Colbert > Letterman > Leno > Kimmel > Ferguson > Daly
Yea, Daly's even worse, now that I think about it. By a hair.
12-07-2008 @ 1:54AM
Zachary said...
I caught a SNL rerun recently with Fallon and Fey doing Weekend Update. He is terrible. But it doesn't matter because network late night sucks. There are more laughs in a minute from Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert than in an entire night from the five network hosts.
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12-08-2008 @ 1:33PM
0megapart!cle said...
Absafuckinglutely.