First Impulse: The Jimmy Fallon Show...or Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

It's ridiculous to judge a daily entertainment show on one episode, let alone its first episode, but, hey, this is "First Impulse," not "Reasoned Analysis Following Painstaking Deliberation." Come to think of it, there ARE no tags on this blog for "Reasoned Analysis." Hmm...

Anyway, I never liked Jimmy Fallon on "Saturday Night Live." I didn't like him in "Fever Pitch," either, though I disliked him less. And I disliked him even LESS on his "Late Night" debut Monday night. I guess maybe he's a lot easier to take when he's not stifling giggles during the middle of a bit with Horatio Sanz two feet away.

Fallon's not gonna win me over anytime soon, but I was kind of hoping he'd calm down a little bit during his first episode--not because I was bothered as a viewer, but just for his own well-being. He didn't do anything embarrassing, and I kind of hoped he could just relax a bit. Something about him just seemed twittery (as opposed to Twitter-y) the whole night.

The monologue was OK, with the host providing some entertaining responses to audience shout-outs. Assuming this wasn't staged, it bodes well for Fallon's ability to think on his feet as host.

The "Slow Jamming the News" bit, with the significant aid of house band The Roots, wasn't bad. It's pretty much exactly what the title indicates. I don't know how often they can do that routine, but it's amusing. However, the "Lick it for 10" segment, with audience members encouraged to lick objects for 10 bucks, was embarrassing, and not just for the obvious reason. In different circumstances, I might give the benefit of the doubt and figure that having someone lick a lawnmower, and having the announcer give us a complete rundown of the specs and manufacturer and retail price of the lawnmower, is some kind of ironic commentary. But given what we know about how desperate and product-placement-happy NBC is, it's just embarrassing.

Then came the interviews. Remember a paragraph or two ago when I expressed optimism for Fallon's ability to think on his feet? The interview with Robert DeNiro punts that optimism into a capsule, sneaks it onto a Russian space flight, and jettisons it into outer space. Fallon didn't panic, exactly, but he seemed overeager to AVOID panic. Much of the interview played like a defensive struggle to ward off awkwardness...and that created, you guess it, awkwardness.

Then Justin Timberlake appeared on the program, and my finger appeared on the fast forward button.

Van Morrison performed, and I didn't watch that segment, either. But how much does Jimmy Fallon have to do with the quality of Van Morrison's performance? I do think it's cool that the show booked a Golden Oldie like Van the Man for its premiere instead of some teenage-chasing flavor of the month. Maybe they thought Timberlake would cover them demographically.

Overall, it was an unexceptional first hour. Jimmy Fallon looks eager to please, and if he works hard, he might make good at 12:37 A.M. Me, I'll be sitting this one out for a while unless he gets some amazing guests. I mean, I haven't watched Conan for years, and I used to check out his show frequently.