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Tuesday, March 3, 2009 | 3:33pm
The Roots The Only Bright Spot As Jimmy Fallon Premiers on Late Night
?uestlove and the band do their part as NBC’s host falls flat on his grill
As yall all know by now I’ve been mad hyped about the premier of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon not because I’m a fan of the former Saturday Night Live cast member but because of NBC‘s choice to hire The Legendary Roots Crew as the show’s house band. Even if you’re not a Roots junkie like myself, Hip Hop heads can’t deny the historic value the move to late night has had.
So last night in anticipation of the big premier I set my TiVo and watched live as Jimmy Fallon…fell completely flat on his face. I felt like I was watching the Grammy’s or Academy Awards minus the awards and with only one lame ass performance. Fallon’s opening monologue was…well…monotonous. He spent most of the show starring into the camera looking like a nervous wreck. Although Fallon promised to take Late night to a fresh, new tech savvy generation the jokes were pedestrian and very typical in political nature. Although Jimmy had perhaps my favorite actor, Bobby DeNiro on as his first guest, the interview was very forgettable and dare I say a snoozer.
Now while prior to last night I’ve never once purposely tuned in to watch any late night talk show let alone been a regular viewer, I do however recognize a flop when I see one…that was a flop.
To be fair, most late night cats were wack from the jump as well. For most of them its a dramatic break from what their used to and a complete career change so growing pains come with the territory. Everyone from Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and even Arsenio Hall opened to some bad reviews. Even the King, Johnny Carson had some work to do but eventually each of these cats had to find their stride. Then again some didn’t…remember Magic Johnson‘s show? Highbrid Nation’s own, Zack Isaacs discusses some strategies on how Jimmy can get back on track. I seriously hope the producers are paying attention.
From what I saw and what I’ve read from the reviews this morning the critics agree with me that the best thing about the show so far is The Roots. Fallon and NBC have struck gold with Hip Hop’s best band and have vowed to integrate them into the show’s sketches and jokes. If you missed any of it…check out the open and while it sucks you can at least rock out to the sounds of the Roots.
So what did Jimmy think? As delusional fans poured in with support he had this to say via twitter:
@jimmyfallon: 1st show done. I was a bit nervous. But overall really happy. Phew!
@jimmyfallon:I read some reviews. They were fair. I appreciate your comments as well.
On the other hand ?uestlove of the Roots, typically a highly active Twitter user, has been curiously quiet all day. His silence speaks volumes.
FILED IN Editorials, Music, TV
“Falls flat on his grill”! THE BIGGEST LAUGH I HAD ALL DAY! I actually blogged about it (it’s linked to my name now). (I know go by my full name and only represent my PR blog)
damn i missed it, thats why the got the roots
it was his first night, nerves can sometimes get the best of us. I think once he gets in the swing of things he will do a great job.
The first day at a new job is always tough.
Yeah but he’s been doing dry runs now for months and doing webisodes to get him ready. I think he was very ill prepared for the night either that or underestimated it. I’m going to check it out tonight and see what I think. Tina Fey (aka the chick from SNL who played Sarah Palin) will be on. I’m hoping their common threads will calm him down. I need this show to be successful for The Roots.
Fallon sucked, but the Roots sucked just as bad, just some crappy hip hop r&b band, this isn’t BET, it’s NBC, talk about a massive downgrade from Conan’s rocking Max Weinburg band, a true rock veteran drummer with a crack band of multi instrumentalists, Max’s band had more talent in their pinky fingers than all hip hop “artists” in history combined. The show show was just plain sad, hopefully NBC just cancel it. The smart people will still watch Conan, then turn the tv off after that.
^ax to grind^ Its guys like Hal that are going to make the show a success. Keep up the hate. I’m sure ?uestlove can use the motivation. Thanks!
shallow hal, what a clown
he is okay just needs time to build himself I mean look at the shoes he is fillings and the legends of night time shows like that. His Tina Fey interview was funny just cause of her
I actually liked most of the show. I do agree that it was not the best for an opening show. The Roots were indeed the savior of the opening night. I will save it to the DVR just to see the Roots and to see who he has on that night. Fallon was never really that funny on SNL either so I think he would have never set the bar that high for the show.