After watching the first edition of “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” we have a Top 10 list of well-intended feedback for the talk-show rookie:
1. Loosen up, Jimmy. We know it was your first night and some nervousness is to be expected, but you seemed way too tense and uptight — which made us feel tense and uptight.
2. Give us more of The Roots. Your excellent house band simply rocked. Loved the “Jamming the News” bit.
3. Can you book Justin Timberlake every night? We never realized the guy was so hilarious. He stole the show with his impressions of Barry Gibb, Jon Mayer and Michael McDonald. If you fail to bring in the ratings, maybe he can take over.
4. Hire some new writers. Your maiden show featured several pre-taped and/or pre-planned skits, none of which were particularly funny. That’s an ominous sign, considering that they had weeks (months?) to prepare them
5. Robert DeNiro as your first guest? Bad move. Yes, he’s a big star and a huge “get” for you, but he has a way of taking the air out of the room when doing a talk show.
6. Punch up your monologue. Most of the jokes fell flat (and, again, you seemed tense). Really enjoyed the jab at Microsoft, though.
7. Be careful about coming across as too needy. Yes, we know you want to be liked and loved, and your earnestness does have a certain charm. But it can easily seem like desperation — and that’s a bad thing.
8. Don’t be afraid to go off-the-cuff more. Loved the moment in your monologue when you played off a loud guy in the audience by cracking, “I hate it when my dad drinks.”
9. Don’t make that “Target Demo” bit an ongoing feature. It’s too “inside-baseball” and just wasn’t funny.
10. Keep in mind that your predecessor, Conan O’ Brien, didn’t hit it out of the park in his big-league debut. Talk shows are an evolving process (Ask Jimmy Kimmel). It takes a while to find your footing. Hang in there and keep taking your hacks.
Now, what about the viewers? How would you critique Fallon’s first show? Are you willing to stick with him for a while — or are you outta here?
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