The Life of Leisure

I enjoy a regular diet of late night talk shows. Dave has been my favorite for his mad interviewing skillz. Conan’s comedy bits were without question, the best. I can only take Craig in small doses. He thinks he’s a lot more charming than he really is…and I don’t even bother with Jay.

Curiosity led me to watch the first two installments of Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night.

My first reaction: not bad, not that good, but still not bad.

What I liked: The Roots as the house band. Seriously. What a great choice for a house band…and I love that he seems to be using them in the comedy bits. Also, I love Fallon’s easy going, likable demeanor. His interview with DeNiro was a little stiff, but he was great with Timberlake, Fey and Bon Jovi. It seems like this will be the show’s strength.

What needs improvement: The comedy. Outside of the first night’s slow jam Obama stimulus thing, everything has kind of fallen flat. The internet video of the day, $10 to lick things, the facebook bit - I hope this isn’t his best.

Overall: Decent start. It’ll hopefully get better. It’s filmed in NYC - a mecca of live music. If they’re not able to consistently book an interesting variety of music acts, it would be a shocker.