The first episode of “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” Monday showed the show was already in good hands. Though they spent half the time talking about the historic nature of the episode, the transplanted show had all the things that made Fallon’s stint on “Late Night” fun and clever and had an added touch of glamour in the fancy new set and, most spectacularly, a rooftop song from U2 from atop the 70th floor at sunset.
The show starts with a sleek, Spike Lee-directed montage of New York City that begins with “Manhattan” style black and white majesty and different clips of Fallon about town; Steve Higgins is there as announcer, just as so many familiar elements of “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” were, particularly the Roots.
It seemed absurd that Fallon had to introduce himself to the audience that used to watch Jay Leno, but he did so, sending love to the Roots and Higgins somewhat awkwardly, shouting out to his wife and child, and even bantering with his parents, featured prominently in the audience.
It was so much of an introduction that he went out to begin his show again as if it were a normal episode. As such, he joked about Olympics, its NBC coverage and a funny “superlatives” bit about various athletes in Sochi with captions to random pictures like “most likely to play jazz flute.”
There was no denying Fallon’s star-attracting power after a brilliantly realized bit in which Fallon makes a special shout out to a friend — “you know who you are” — who said he’d never be host of the “Tonight” show. “You owe me $100,” he says to the screen.
And then from behind the curtain, comes Robert De Niro to wordlessly deliver a Benjamin. (De Niro had been Fallon’s first guest on “Late Night,” a disastrous moment full of stammers and flop sweat).
Funny enough like that, but he was followed in turn by Tina Fey, dropping off her own $100 bill, and then Joe Namath, Rudy Giuliani, Mariah Carey, Tracy Morgan, Joan Rivers, Kim Kardashian, Seth Rogen, Lindsay Logan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mike Tyson, Lady Gaga and Stephen Colbert, whose $100 came in small coins, which he poured all over the desk, saying “Welcome to 11:30, bitch!”
The show is starting at midnight this week because of Olympics, but point taken.
His predecessor Jay Leno didn’t amass that kind of star power his whole last week, let alone one three minute segment.
It was quite a statement, affirming what his first guest Will Smith told him later in the show: “People are coming for you. ‘The Tonight Show’ is big, but people are coming for your part [in it].”
Fallon has engendered that much good will — and affection — in his stints at “Saturday Night Live” and “Late Night” to amass that many stars (and let’s face it, $1,400 in cash) all at once, and he never mentioned the bit again in the night.
After the next commercial break was a prime showcase for what Fallon’s show can do: First a funny demonstration of “The Evolution of Hip Hop Dancing” with the host in costume encouraging his guest Smith to revisit his Fresh Prince roots just as he had Bruce Springsteen dress up in previous incarnations of himself.
The bit recalled one of Fallon’s most famous sketches on “Late Night” when he joined Michelle Obama for a history of “mom dancing.” But his one was almost as entertaining and funny, going from actual dances like the Cabbage Patch, Running Man and the Dougie to “The Leg Thing No One Can Do.”
Nobody could ever picture Leno (or even Conan O’Brien) doing such a bit as convincingly. And no late night band could be as authoritative in such a piece, of course, as The Roots.
That segment went right into U2 on the rooftop, brilliantly shot into the New York City skyline at sunset. With one false move, Larry Mullens Jr. might have dropped dramatically from the 70th floor perch; the Edge might have fallen off one. But the scenery was worth it, whatever the temperature. It sure beat Jimmy Kimmel’s backyard parking lot stage, or even David Letterman’s infrequent top-of-the-marquee performances.
For U2, it was a chance to reference the Beatles’ rooftop performance in “Let It Be” while also suggesting Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” from the use of a marching band accompanying them.
In the studio, U2 were less stellar as couch guests. Fallon didn’t have much interesting to ask them either. His attempt to create improv humor by having Bono give a speech about a coffee mug that didn’t quite turn out so well. Giving them acoustic guitars and microphones to do their Oscar nominated “Ordinary Love,” as he did, was a better use of their time.
Bono had a gift for Fallon – a nifty (red) edition Gretsch guitar. But it was a little awkward: is this the kind of show where people give gifts to one another?
Earlier, Fallon had given a gift to Smith for being first guest. It was a set of Smiths T shirts with a family portrait, patterned after shirts for the band The Smiths.
Fallon didn’t have much to ask Smith about in an interview that seemed a little too self-referencing (“Do you have any advice for me?”).
But when Bob Costas returned after the show for late night Olympics updates at 1 a.m., it was a good demonstration of what a great interviewer is all about. (Costas too is a late night alum).
But are great interviewers why people turn to late night talk shows?
I bet Costas can’t do the Dougie at all.