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The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - General Discussion

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nowandlater

nowandlater

(edited)

Anyone notice the little 'inside baseball' moment from last night's (7/29) program?

 

After the monologue, from the desk, Fallon mentions to Higgins about a guy, by name, that dropped by the office earlier in the day and how it was nice to see him, what a good guy is and then, that was that.

 

The name was Rick Ludwin. Who is Rick Ludwin?

 

In very many ways the guy Fallon can thank for his current gig.  Ludwin just retired as VP Late Night Programming at NBC.  The guy whose fingerprints were all over the Leno/Letterman train wreck, the Leno/Conan train wreck and the Leno 10:00pm train wreck. (depending on who's spin you choose to believe).

 

To me it was a flashbulb moment that captured a little bit about what makes Fallon tick (or not).  There couldn't have been more than 100 people in the building that know the guy's name, let alone why it was noteworthy to mention his visit. Likely fewer watching the broadcast, yet Fallon made the mention at the top of his network program. It sure plays to the "Isn't he sweet and thoughtful" persona, but means little to anyone else watching and just served as another distraction seeing Fallon fawning over something or someone.

 

YMMV

 

BTW - The only reason I tuned in was the great joy Aubrey Plaza brings to these types of shows in confounding hosts if she's serious, seriously disturbed or seriously skilled at pulling one over on the program she's appearing on.

 

Rick Ludwin was the NBC executive who developed and championed Seinfeld and fought against its cancelation. (If there was no Rick Ludwin, Seinfeld wouldn't exist. Warren Littlefield called Ludwin NBC's "patron saint.")

 

The Letterman/Leno trainwreck resulted in nearly 2 decades of NBC dominance in late-night.

 

Same for the Conan/Leno trainwreck. That trainwreck paved the way for Fallon to be where he is now -- No. 1 and dominating, with Seth Meyers also dominating.

 

So Ludwin must've been extremely valuable to the Peacock.

Edited by nowandlater
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zxy556575
zxy556575

Wow, what a great show with Obama! Totally because of the latter.

opus
opus

Agreed. Jimmy gets his share of criticism, but credit where credit is due.

Axie
Axie

Jimmy’s daughters are cute but I don’t watch a late night show to watch someone’s kids.  Especially when they are allowed to destroy interviews.

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kib

kib

(edited)

Rick Ludwin was the NBC executive who developed and championed Seinfeld and fought against its cancelation. (If there was no Rick Ludwin, Seinfeld wouldn't exist. Warren Littlefield called Ludwin NBC's "patron saint.")

 

The Letterman/Leno trainwreck resulted in nearly 2 decades of NBC dominance in late-night.

 

Same for the Conan/Leno trainwreck. That trainwreck paved the way for Fallon to be where he is now -- No. 1 and dominating, with Seth Meyers also dominating.

 

So Ludwin must've been extremely valuable to the Peacock.

Perhaps I was a little harsh.  At least I now know which network I need to pitch for my "Celebrate the Suits Very Special Christmas Special" pilot.

The More You Know...

Edited by kib
vb68

vb68

(edited)

That was the game picked for Julia Roberts?   Like for real?   Somebody really didn't think that one through, Jimmy.   I actually think she was a trouper because it was obvious she wanted to bolt.  And to his credit, he figured that out and cut it short.   I didn't even think the playbacks were funny.  Just kinda awkward.

 

That would be a game for someone he has more of a comfort zone with and has done the show lots of times like Cameron Diaz.  Julia seems more like a charades or password kind of guest.  Something like that. Nothing where she gets hit in the face.

 

Maybe I'm wrong and she'll be back.  I have my doubts though.

Edited by vb68
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Medicine Crow

Medicine Crow

That was the game picked for Julia Roberts?   Like for real?   Somebody really didn't think that one through, Jimmy.   I actually think she was a trouper because it was obvious she wanted to bolt.  And to his credit, he figured that out and cut it short.   I didn't even think the playbacks were funny.  Just kinda awkward.

 

That would be a game for someone he has more of a comfort zone with and has done the show lots of times like Cameron Diaz.  Julia seems more like a charades or password kind of guest.  Something like that. Nothing where she gets hit in the face.

 

Maybe I'm wrong and she'll be back.  I have my doubts though.

I have to agree with you!!  THAT was all kinds of AWKWARD WRONG.  She was a good sport, but he shouldn't have done it with HER.

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vb68

vb68

(edited)

It was something where they threw this  soft plastic (or whatever it was*) ball in each other faces and watched the video playback where it smooched up their faces.

 

She was visibly hesitant about the whole thing, as I think most actresses probably would be, but she did it.  I noticed he said there would be three rounds, but they only did two. As she sat there, her eyes were pleading "please don't hit me really hard."

 

I still think it's a very odd choice for a first time guest.

 

*I want to say it was like a bubble, but I don't think that's right.  It did look like it could possibly hurt if there was indeed some force behind it.

Edited by vb68
canter

canter

(edited)

They must run these games past these celebrities' publicists prior to filming and have pre-approval though, right?

Heidi Klum seemed to get cold feet about her "How We Roll" game earlier this week too, though. She kinda stopped short and then they turned it into that German roll thing instead, where she could have her legs together. When Halle Berry did it she was game and it went great.

Edited by canter
BennyB

BennyB

 

They must run these games past these celebrities' publicists prior to filming and have pre-approval though, right?

 

The Julia Roberts episode was painful to watch.  She put on her best mega-watt smile, but her eyes said different. 

 

Must every guest be subjected to a 'game'?  It's not particularly entertaining, nor amusing. 

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vb68

vb68

 

The Julia Roberts episode was painful to watch.  She put on her best mega-watt smile, but her eyes said different.

 

I just can't get over that.  Julia Roberts, you've never done my show before.  It's time for me to hit you in the face with this huge thing as hard as I can! Let's do it! 

 

I don't object to games, but they should be guest appropriate.  I think Julia would had been fine at charades.

 

I remember Helen Mirren not even trying to fake how dumb she thought beer pong was back on Late Night.

 

"Is it over now?   Oh, good."

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nowandlater

nowandlater

(edited)

I was reading somewhere that Robin Williams considered Dana Carvey to have the best impression of him.

 

Which got me thinking: Hey, doesn't Jimmy Fallon do a killer Robin Williams impression?

 

Which also got me thinking: Hey, Jimmy Fallon is in 6th year doing a late-night talk show, why has Robin Williams never been a guest?

 

And it's not like Williams wasn't doing talk shows: Last year, he was promoting his CBS sitcom on Jay Leno, Letterman, Kimmel, Ferguson, Ellen, Kelly and Michael, Jon Stewart, and he was even on Graham Norton in 2011.

 

In fact, Williams has been a guest on Letterman 7 times during Fallon's late-night tenure.

 

He was also a guest twice on Conan's short-lived Tonight Show.

 

But never on Fallon. I wonder why....

 

Edited by nowandlater
sum

sum

(edited)
But never on Fallon. I wonder why.... 

It's false. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1556823/

 

jimmy-fallon-and-robin-williams.jpg

It could be anything. Who knows? Maybe already having a good rapport with other hosts he simply preferred to visit them? Maybe he didn't particularly enjoy his time there and never went back? It's not like Fallon has been hosing 11:30 show for six years for it to be truly bizarre.

Edited by sum
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nowandlater

nowandlater

I was reading somewhere that Robin Williams considered Dana Carvey to have the best impression of him.

 

Which got me thinking: Hey, doesn't Jimmy Fallon do a killer Robin Williams impression?

 

Which also got me thinking: Hey, Jimmy Fallon is in 6th year doing a late-night talk show, why has Robin Williams never been a guest?

 

And it's not like Williams wasn't doing talk shows: Last year, he was promoting his CBS sitcom on Jay Leno, Letterman, Kimmel, Ferguson, Ellen, Kelly and Michael, Jon Stewart, and he was even on Graham Norton in 2011.

 

In fact, Williams has been a guest on Letterman 7 times during Fallon's late-night tenure.

 

He was also a guest twice on Conan's short-lived Tonight Show.

 

But never on Fallon. I wonder why....

 

 

 

It's false. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1556823/

 

jimmy-fallon-and-robin-williams.jpg

It could be anything. Who knows? Maybe already having a good rapport with other hosts he simply preferred to visit them? Maybe he didn't particularly enjoy his time there and never went back? It's not like Fallon has been hosing 11:30 show for six years for it to be truly bizarre.

 

Dang. I feel terrible for bringing it up. Actually, Bill Carter mentioned it in a tweet last night, and I also thought it was interesting that Fallon didn't show that visit. (Also, I couldn't find it on IMDb, but obviously I wasn't looking closely enough.

 

vb68

vb68

(edited)

 

and I also thought it was interesting that Fallon didn't show that visit.

 

 

I can understand  Jimmy using old clips to highlight The Tonight Show's legacy and tradition.  That's where his interests are now, and he obviously takes that seriously . Plus showing Robin's first time with Johnny did have extra meaning attached to it.

Edited by vb68
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sum

sum

(edited)

I missed a few parts last night but I don't think there was any. 

This was posted right before the taping started. 

Jimmy Fallon (http://instagram.com/p/r5KmCoPZ5l/)

When Don Pardo said my name for the first time I knew that I was really on Saturday Night Live. Until then it all felt like a dream. Sometimes when my sketch didn't make it to air and I wasn't in the show, Don Pardo saying my name in the opening credits was more than satisfying to me. I would call my parents or my sister and say "Did you hear it? That's Don Pardo!" I was honored to work with him both as a cast member and as a host. He was a gentleman and always rooted for me. I will miss him.

I guess he'd rather deal with it in private along with other SNL staffs and cast in the building. Edited by sum
Babalooie

Babalooie

Lohan must have the goods on Fallon, because he keeps letting her appear for no reason.  This could explain the ice bucket challenge with her.  She is making the rounds begging, as is her MO.

 

http://pagesix.com/2014/08/20/lilo-does-ice-bucket-challenge-in-club-causes-more-drama/?_ga=1.179077485.874719285.1394651037

nowandlater

nowandlater

And all those yrs that Leno had the seat, he never invited Joan on ?

 

Conan didn't have her on, either.

 

I guess by the time Fallon came on, it was already like really, really, really old news.

 

I was watching Johnny Carson's YouTube channel, which I believe is run by one of his sons, and they have full Joan Rivers interviews. But of course she was great.

Taylorh2

Taylorh2

(edited)

I was just reading that Joan said that she "regrets not getting Carson's blessing" when she was offered her own talk show. She also said that their friendship was more  on the TV then in real life

 

So was Fallon the only one of them (Host) not afraid the ghost of Johnny Carson ?

Edited by Taylorh2
possibilities

possibilities

I watched a two part interview with Rivers on the Tavis Smiley Show very recently (not sure when it taped, but they were airing it on my local PBS station within the past week or two), where she maintained that she had done nothing wrong with Carson, and said it made her sad that he carried a grudge against her for no reason all those years. She specifically said he must have been a very closed up sad and bitter person to act the way he did. To me, it didn't sound at all like she thought she had made any mistakes there. And honestly, I think Joan Rivers did and said a lot of stuff that legitimately outraged people, and she never apologized for any of it, but I don't think what she did in leaving the Tonight Show was one of the things she needed to feel bad about. Whether or not Leno or Conan or anyone else failed to invite her on their show because of the Carson ban, or whether they didn't invite her because  they didn't want to give airtime to someone with her politics and whose act would likely cause them a lot of heartburn, backlash, and controversy, I can't say.

vb68

vb68

 

I guess by the time Fallon came on, it was already like really, really, really old news.

 

 

Or he was just more gracious.  i think he really did like and respect her.  Having her on the very first night was quite a statement.

 

I have to say I really loved Joan's line about Leno after Jimmy took over that could somebody please tell her one funny thing Leno ever said.  Hee.  No love lost there.

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