“The idea of a daily television watching ritual, namely news at 11 p.m. followed by The Tonight Show at midnight, is very much an old-school practice. Today’s youth can’t watch The Tonight Show on Netflix or Amazon Prime, and even if they could, it wouldn’t make sense, considering the extremely short relevancy period of each episode.” —Michael Errigo
And now, heeere’s … Jimmy?
That may take some getting used to. Tonight marks Jimmy Fallon’s debut as host of the The Tonight Show on NBC. While he may not use the same intro as beloved previous host and American icon Johnny Carson, he will have the duty of filling his shoes, not to mention those of Jay Leno, who hosted from 1992 until earlier this month.
Many people may know Fallon from his five-year run as host of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon — a prestigious role in itself that was formerly held by David Letterman and Conan O’Brien. Others may recognize Fallon from his time as a central cast member on Saturday Night Live. In his time on Late Night, Fallon’s creativity and tendency to break the mold built him a loyal following, and he became a clear choice to take the reins from Leno when the time came.
On April 3, NBC announced Leno would retire in 2014 and Fallon would become the next member of one of Hollywood’s most prestigious clubs. Promos started running soon after, pairing the new host with a slightly different name: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. It was apparent NBC was going to make Fallon the centerpiece of the show instead of just an interviewer.
But the odds of becoming successful in this role seem stacked against Fallon. The most-watched Tonight Show aired more than 40 years ago, when 58 million Americans tuned in to watch Carson. To put that in perspective, Leno’s highest mark came in 1993 when he drew 22.4 million viewers. In fact, the 14.6 million viewers he got a couple of weeks ago for his farewell was a 15-year high, according to NBC. Fallon’s Late Night farewell garnered 6 million viewers. Safe to say, the numbers are slipping.
But they’ll never return to Carson’s numbers. It’s just not possible. He was king of the world in his day, and The Tonight Show was a staple for millions of families. Those days are long over.
The idea of a daily television watching ritual, namely news at 11 p.m. followed by The Tonight Show at midnight, is very much an old-school practice. Today’s youth can’t watch The Tonight Show on Netflix or Amazon Prime, and even if they could, it wouldn’t make sense, considering the extremely short relevancy period of each episode. This cripples the program’s chances of appealing to a young audience other than a very loyal but very small following.
While a lot of young people enjoy Fallon, most watch him through YouTube clips the morning after. His “#Hashtag” video with Justin Timberlake and his classroom instrument cover of “Call Me Maybe” have significantly more than 15 million views on YouTube. These are two prime examples of what makes Fallon special. He doesn’t have to rely on his guests to be interesting to make his show entertaining like some people (looking at you, Letterman). He comes up with different skits, songs or games that involve his band, the guest or a cameo appearance (e.g. President Obama slow-jamming the news) that will keep people watching no matter who’s there each night.
Fallon will have to do something new on The Tonight Show in order to achieve something old: success. He’ll have to be creative, innovative and downright bold to gain the attention of a public that has stopped caring.
Can he resurrect The Tonight Show? Probably not, but it will be entertaining to watch him try.
