I have no doubt that there are plenty of East Coast stars to draw from, but if several shows are drawing from the same pool, that thins the choices somewhat. As Larry Sanders taught us, two talk shows don’t like to book the same guests at the same time.
So there exists a void that a West Coast show could fill. It’s not like there is a West Coast shortage of celebs, and many are just a short limo ride from Burbank, Hollywood or Culver City, not a 9 hour roundtrip plane trek.
This is the exact opposite of what aceplace57 was saying. He said famous people may not come to the East Coast to promote their stuff, so I pointed out that they’ve been doing it for years and years.
Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and the Late Late Show are based on the West Coast.
And if Jimmy is ever short a guest, he can just grab Brian Williams or one of the SNL guys from upstairs. There’s also always a hefty number of big name stars performing on Broadway at any one time, or filming in the area. Getting guests will not be a problem, especially if Fallon’s show is a hit and becomes the place to be seen.
Right. Each of them get a boost from this, and NBC loses a half-step because both their shows are now in NY. It’s not that they can’t get guests in NY. Obviously they can. The point is that the entertainment world is dominated by LA and it’s 10 times easier to get a guest to drive over than to have to make special arrangements. The bookers for every show are going crazy on the phones at this minute having this argument.
And the interesting question becomes whether Craig Ferguson moves to the Ed Sullivan Theater when he takes over from Letterman, as is rumored. He does well by mocking LA but he used to live in NY and his personally is a much better fit than Fallon’s.
To be honest, I don’t see Fallon as a New York guy at all. He looks totally Hollywood to me. Am I alone in this?
Who has said otherwise?
I did.
I don’t think they live in NY by default either, but clearly far fewer productions are Hollywood back-lot affairs than in the Carson years.
They may be a smaller percentage, but the pie has grown enormously since then so the absolute numbers are far larger. The industry now includes music guests who get to sit on the couch and celebrities and chefs and comedians and reality show people and web people in addition to a thousand networks churning out stars instead of three and all the movie studios that dominate the field. Everything is centered on LA. Every other place is an outpost. In sheer numbers there is no comparison. LA is Amazon; NY is Barnes & Noble.
I thought his monologue was beyond lame, but then again I usually think the monologue is the absolute worst part of a late night talk show.
Conan (old Conan, pre-Tonight Show) had INCREDIBLY SHORT monologues and it was great, but on TBS his monologue is long and cringe-worthy.
Was waiting for a Grover Cleveland joke in relation to Leno, it being President’s Day and all…
We watched the first episode last night.
Blyeah.
I cut him some slack on his first monologue. But still too up and antsy for even a first time hosting the show. The second monologue went nowhere.
Then things got bad. The history of hip hop dance- was this supposed to be something? The History of Dance video on YouTube is great, this was … what? Started fast forwarding. Will Smith? Way too smug to bear watching. Fast forward. U2 on the roof. Not a very good song. Fast forward. U2 on the couch. Really hoping for something there. Nope. Fast forward. End of show.
The set is weird. Looks very small. Might be able to roll the bandstand back for a large act. There’s a huge “tongue” in front of the chairs. Why? No coffee table.
Will Smith hung around for the U2 part. But the sidekick didn’t occupy the Ed seat. Never liked the guests hanging around, but the sidekick on the couch can be good.
The house band is going to turn out to be too limited in genres and repertoire. Good at some things is not the same as good at everything. They will pale in comparison to PS and the CBS Orchestra.
Fallon can be really good at times. The first show had none of that.
You said more celebrities/actors I’ve in NY than LA? Sorry, I missed that.
I watched Seinfeld on there last night. During his standup they cut between 3 or 4 different camera angles. Very distracting and unnecessary. During his panel Fallon was laughing and contorting so much I thought he was having a seizure. I don’t know if this is his usual manner, but he needs to tone it down.
Bad directing for sure.
I kbew it wasn’t going to happen, but I was hoping that end of the $100 gag, Conan would come out, grab all the cash, and then walk out without saying a word.
I liked it too.
I thought he was gonna be extremely nervous, but he held it together well.
Couldve done without the Leno jabs though
.
Which jabs, besides saying his name twice while running down the list of hosts?
Also, purely out of curiosity, why did you put a white period in the bottom of your post.
Goddamn. That would have knocked me off my couch with fits of laughter.
Ha! Nice catch. (Actually that might make for a good sketch…)
2nd show: Ouch, that was really bad. Seinfeld was barely tolerable. Wiig was playing to her weak suit: overly long costume parodies.
And one of the weakest monologues I’ve seen on late night TV. Reminds me of the short lived Dennis Miller show.
What a disappointing show so far.
I think he’s doing fine. On the most recent show, except for the stupid hashtag skit, I really enjoyed it.