The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: First Night Review

Hi everyone, Andrew here.
The Tonight Show returned last night with a brand new set, brand new open, brand new band, brand new audience seating, brand new city, and a brand new host...Jimmy Fallon. So, I'm here to give my thoughts on Mr. Fallon's first night as host of the venerable, 60+-year icon of late-night talk. Here we go.

The intro music has a nice Motown sound and is a really classy touch to the Tonight Show mantra. And the open is wonderful, featuring all iconic sites of New York on display, telling people The Tonight Show is back in New York and here to stay. And it was directed by Spike Lee, another great plus.
(I honestly hoped Conan O'Brien would stay a long while as host too, but we all know how that turned out.)
Jimmy was nervous, but he was very good. But you would too, if you were hosting The Tonight Show for the first time. He pretty much knew all the pressure is on him, as new host of Tonight and handled it well. He made a very good move introducing himself to all that don't know him, where he's from, his childhood and age, and his family. Speaking of family, he brought his parents to the show, both looking wonderful. He should be so happy to have the both of them here. Also it was really sweet of him to mention the past hosts before him (Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, and Jay Leno. [Yes he was mentioned twice, because he hosted twice. Refunds at the close icon.])

The SET:

I really loved the set. Lots of warm wood, nice textures, perfect lighting, and a cool curtain. I liked the panels on the sides of the curtain, which oddly remind me of...ice cream cones. It also has an awesome retro-looking desk with a beautiful backdrop of the New York City skyline all made and carved in Wood, which I loved the most.

And The Roots gets this really nice platform for all members to stand or sit. I find it much better than the setup at Late Night.

The first jokes were based on the bad turbulence that shrouded Tonight for the past few years, the Winter Olympics and...

Then came a bit where Jimmy mentions he previously had a bet with a friend that he couldn't host the show in the future. He won the bet, and won the cash from his friend--well, make that a lot of friends. Including Robert DeNiro (Jimmy's first guest on Late Night), his old SNL pals Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan, Lady Gaga, Seth Rogen, Kim Kardashian, former NY mayor and governor Rudy Giuliani, Joan Rivers (who was previously BANNED from Tonight after cheating on Johnny Carson with a Fox talk show and never spoke with him again), Lindsay Lohan, SJP, Mike Tyson and even STEPHEN COLBERT, who gave us this lovely welcoming message:

"Welcome to 11:30, BITCH!!"

The GUESTS:
After that, Jimmy's very first guest, Will Smith, joined him for a nice taped bit "The Evolution of Hip-Hop Dancing". My faves were "The Cabbage Patch" and "The Carlton".

Straight after, we got this REALLY great performance from first performer U2 with their new single "Invisible" at the top of Rockefeller Center. Jimmy said it would blow your pants off, and he was right. It was an awesome performance, with sweeping shots of the band, the crowd and the absolutely amazing sunset backdrop of the NY skyline in the background. Also I had this hope that, becase of the small space, no railings to keep them from the inevitable, and the big amount of people there, I feared that people would fall from the Top of the Rock, but fortunately that didn't happen. Otherwise, an amazing performance to start off the Fallon Tonight franchise.

Will later came back to talk to ol' Jim. He began with a heartwarming message to Mr. Fallon, that his warm and loving personality is one of the reasons major stars come to his show, ending with “People are coming [to The Tonight Show] because of your heart”. That was really sweet. He later talked about his family, their winter gatherings at the slopes skiing and snowboarding.
The term he used to describe Jada while snowboarding was hilarious.

SHAUN BLACK!

They later chatted about his daughter Willow, who had a hit song you may still try to for--"Whip My Hair", that was parodied by Jimmy in the style of Bob Dylan.

After the break, U2 came inside Studio 6B to talk with Jim about their new-found mainstream success after winning a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination. They later played an acoustic version the song that won them the Globe, "Ordinary Love" from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. It was already beautifully fantastic, until Bono summonsed The Roots to join in, and they immediately played as if they played from the start, adding onto the greatness.
The Roots are a brilliant band and still is a really great choice as house band for not only Tonight, but also Late Night as well. And that cannot be denied.


I never honestly thought that someone like Jimmy Fallon would host The Tonight Show (or even Late Night, for that matter). But hey, I was a kid then. I was more focused on School and the next new episode of Foster's. But now that I've seen him up close, I think he could take this hosting job all the way and then some. But now that he's not hosting Late Night anymore, he's in a different ballpark, he has some things to work with: Viewers, demographic, popularity and if he could still get eyeballs. And of course, not everyone loved it. And a lot people did watch out of curiousity. And they will have something to say, whether they loved it and will watch again or they hated it, thought the set looked bland, The Roots were terrible, and they expected him to reach Jay Leno- or even Johnny Carson-level humor (Really Dipshits??) I, however, watched to see what the set looked like. I loved it so much, I wish I could sleep in it--okay, and with it. Whatever. And of course, the very first show is always shaky; either it's really bad and unwatchable or it's pretty good but not great. This is pretty much expected (and should be). But Jimmy will do every well; he's had a very successful run hosting Late Night (yes, for 5 years, but things turned around REALLY quickly) and has been very popular during his stint on SNL, so I won't be surprised if he becomes more relaxed and calm as the stint continues.
Good Luck, Jimmy. You're gonna need it in the ever-expanding late-night field. You might be here 5, 9, 10, maybe even 12 years, but I know you'll do very well.

Favorite jokes:
"I'm Jimmy Fallon, and I'll be your host--for now."
"Welcome to 11:30, BITCH!!" -Stephen Colbert

Favorite part:
(Definitely) U2 performing "Ordinary Love".

Well thank you for joining me for the review, everyone. I'll see you later, or maybe when Seth Meyers debuts.

THAT would be an interesting review. Bye!