If anyone remembers that far back, did anyone say the same thing about Conan? Maybe and maybe the "Who the heck is this guy?" question.
On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 8:14 AM, Ron <roncasalo...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Fallon is what I expected. Young, inexperienced as a talk show host > but has some comedic talent. He needs three things to make this work: > > 1) Time > 2) A new Director > 3) A new Producer > > For all of the expected (and allowable for a period of time) flaws in > Fallon's performance, the potential is there to grow into the spot. > Some say he's worse than Conan was the first night out. I say the > expectations are higher now than then as the audience is more informed > about Late Night TV and to some extent Jimmy Kimmel has played the > role of LNTV ingenue quite well. > > But there is no excuse for the lame prodcution values of the show. The > timing was off, the lighting seemed off. > > The bits.. oh the bits... > Let's talk "Lick It For Ten". Why was there a need for three pages -- > one each for the contestants -- to escort them to the stage? More > professional shows would have them all sitting near each other and the > host would lead or call them down. And then each "each item" was > escorted on and off the stage by each page -- stiffly, woodenly and > distractingly crossing in between the on stage talent and the camera. > Stage direction people! Small stage, small bit, seven people moving > during the bit? Please! Where's the comedic pro-forma "surly > stagehand" when you need one? > > Targeted Audience Members: Like many SNL bits; good concept, drawn out > too long without a strong ending > > The line-up: > So, we have this new, young, brash host popular with college crowds > (remember the fun Conan and Andy had with bits at college dorms?) and > what do we do? > We make his headliner guest Robert DeNiro(!) and his musical guest Van > Morrison(!) Now, I like them both but this was more a Jay line-up than > what you'd expect from the new kid. > > Yes, Jimmy needs to chill. His timing of everything from interacting > with his guests, to with his band, to throwing to commercial breaks > needs to improve. This will take time. > > As for this "Not Ready For Prime Time Plus @ 1/2 Hours" offering, my > only guess is that Lorne wanted to set expectations low so that the > marked improvement going forward would be more obvious. > > Ron Casalotti > Wayne, NJ > > > On Mar 3, 4:10 am, dsik...@yahoo.com wrote: > > Yeah, it's not fair to judge the first show as a final product, but if > > they're charging full price, they gotta be prepared to take the hit. > > > > Quick observations: > > > > 1) Despite my not being a blonde mother from Connecticut, I am not in > > this show's demographic. > > > > 2) "Jimmy Slow Jams the News" sucked. > > > > 3) Fallon doesn't seem to have a spontaneous bone in his body. The > > advantage that guys like Dave, Conan, Craig, and even Jay have is > > that, once they get to the desk, they can make it seem like they're > > talking off the cuff -- even as they're working off of talking points. > > Fallon feels locked onto the prompter and the blue cards like he's in > > a tunnel. (Though he's gotten better at reading prompter.) > > > > 4) Graphics are good -- except for his backdrop. > > > > 5) "Lick It for Ten" -- and a lof of the rest -- feels like something > > a desperate host would have cooked up during a writer's strike; not > > something that they've had months to prepare for. > > > > 6) Lorne must have compromising photos of De Niro; he sure didn't seem > > to want to be there. > > > > 7) Generally, the show feels to be neither fish nor fowl. It seems to > > want to honor the classic traditions with the stage right side of the > > set -- desk, announcer, backdrop -- while the stage left side -- non- > > traditional band, two-story set -- wants to break new ground. I feel > > like if it's going to be as newfangled as they seem to want to make > > it, they should lose the traditional trappings and make it feel like > > the 21st century equivalent of Dave's "Late Night" -- that the kids > > snuck into the studio and turned the cameras on. > > > > 8) I expect the show will improve -- it'd have to -- but so far, I can > > smell the flop sweat. > > > > --Dake Sikula > > > -- Jason Carpio jcar...@gmail.com Not sent from an iPhone --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... Smart (TV) People on Ice! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
