Jimmy Fallon

I enjoyed this New York Magazine piece on Jimmy Fallon. The article focuses on how Jimmy Fallon distinguishes himself from the other late night hosts because he's very laid back and just likes to have fun on his show:

Fallon's best segments are upbeat and rarely have targets, let alone victims. Jay Leno, by contrast, is known as the "nice guy" of late night, but even a signature bit like "Jaywalking" revolves around asking normal people questions, then chuckling at their dumb responses. David Letterman is late night's crotchety truth-teller, and he perpetually looks like he might walk off his own show in disgust. Fallon's biggest hit so far came when he staged a number with Justin Timberlake in which they performed a medley tracing the history of rap, starting with the Sugarhill Gang and ending with them bum-rushing the audience to "Empire State of Mind." There wasn't even a real joke at its heart (whereas on Conan, the same bit might center on "Isn't it funny that dorky white Conan is rapping?"). But the clip earned over a million views online.

Fallon's feel-good-jamboree approach might sound fusty and old-fashioned, but it's actually a very modern antidote to free-form irony. "Our research has told us that young viewers respond less to angry comedy," says Brent Haynes, the senior vice-president of comedy and animation at MTV, which recently hosted Fallon on the teen-oriented game show Silent Library. "These viewers don't have a strong sense of rebellion, because they're generally happy with their lives. So their comedy is more about surprise and randomness. And Jimmy's a very hopeful guy. He doesn't have a 'That's fucked' attitude. It's more of a 'That's silly' attitude." If other late-night shows echo the snarkier outposts of the Internet, Fallon's smartly plugged into the Internet's more earnest side: the part where fans flock to gab about last night's Glee or watch videos of adorable puppies.

"I'm on so late I'm definitely the last seconds of anyone's attention," says Fallon. "So I just want to give them something dumb to laugh at, so they go, 'That's funny,' then fall asleep."

I don't watch a whole lot of late night talk shows; and when I do, I don't watch too much of Fallon's show. Though, as mentioned in the article, I sometimes see funny bits from his show the next day online (which doesn't really help his ratings, I know). I think he does good stuff, and I do think he has an interesting approach to late night. It does seem like he's doing the show simply for him and his friends involved with the show. It really does look like he's just having fun, and that's refreshing.

Speaking of Jimmy Fallon, remember that Pepsi commercial he did with Parker Posey? I loved that.