NBC’s other old-new host, Jimmy Fallon, posted his first Late Night video blog last night, and I’ll say this for him: he picked a great house band. (In fact, I’m surprised that committing to the nightly show works for them, but it’s a steady gig, and I hope NBC is backing up a money truck.) As for Fallon, well, it’s unfair to judge by a video blog. But that’s kind of what he’s inviting us to do, isn’t it?
And as we approach March 2, it would be nice to see a little more funny, a little more spark, a little less emo eagerness to please. A host needs to be likeable, yes, but he also needs to not visibly need us so much. (Look at Johnny Carson—cool, amiable, funny, but always kept the audience at arm’s length.) There’s a lot of Wow, isn’t this amazing, and we’re so lucky and excited, and Jack Paar used to use this set, and you can e-mail me, using this link right here, just by clicking on an Internet!
Of course, it’s only a one-minute-and-change video, so we’ll see where this develops. Fallon has a few months to get his sea legs. And maybe another online advertiser. Seriously: “Soap scum on your skin”? Possibly the creepiest pre-roll web ad ever.