Late Night
I wanted to post this review earlier but then I decided to wait until I could post the review of the first episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon along with it.
Late Night with Conan O'Brien 2009.02.20 - The White Stripes
Gnnnh, the last show! :,( This turned out to not be a review, instead this is me being all melancholic and stuff. +g+
A few people asked me to write a review, so that they would remember to watch the last show as well. But all of you I can only recommend to watch at least the last week of shows, if not the last two weeks. Over that time they had less and less regular guests, instead making room for special guests and showed old favourites, taking the audience on a trip down memory lane.
Of course they only showed the well-known stuff, but I was nevertheless surprised by how much I already knew. Late Night with Conan O'Brien was actually the first show I watched in English. Every Saturday and Sunday night CNBC Europe showed the whole week worth of shows of both Jay Leno and Conan. And I would watch them as often as I could. That was even before I had Internet, about 9 or 10 or so years back. And it was a lovely time. ♥
Even back then when I had no idea about American television, or who any of those guests where, I still preferred Conan over Jay. Even though I had a bigger chance of understanding what the hell Jay Leno was talking about or whom he was interviewing.
I didn't understand any of the stand-up, because I had no idea about American news, American politics or American society. But Conan made me more likely crack up about any of the jokes on these topics. And accidentally through that they taught me about American news, American politics and American society. George W. Bush was that dude that always chased butterflies, like a dumb dog! (that was pre-9/11, I really didn't know anything about him) Everyone in professional baseball is on steroids! Martha Stewart likes cooking!
You may now look at me, like "How could you not have known that?" Because it is actually possible to live in Germany and know all these things, without watching Late Night television. Just by reading a newspaper or watching the news. But you see, I was a right little shithead back then, so I didn't care about the news, or even the politics of my own country! xD
Whatever! Conan! Show!
The last show, or the last several shows were really for all the fans that stuck with him over the years. Abe Vigoda!!!
They had a mash-up of the old title sequences for the last couple of shows. With the bycicle! Jumping into the Hudson! I actually remember the sequence where he did that! Hee! ♥
Gosh, the audience going INSANE, so lovely.
What I hadn't seen before was Conan's own personal favourite of all they had done over the years. The old-fashioned baseball segment! Oh God! I understand why it's his favourite! That thing was hilarious! Everytime I remember I crack up anew! xD
They completely trashed the studio in the last week, giving out piece of it to the audience, it was so funny, him sitting there, surrounded by debris. Him trashing the place with an axe was great as well. xD
I also loved all the video messages and surprise visits he got in the last couple of weeks. Will Ferrell came on in the last show, being ridic and inapropriate as always! ♥
Awww it's great that Andy Richter was a guest on the last show. :D
Oh God, when they cut together all those great moments! It just reminded me why I loved this show so much! It was soooo geeky and they just embraced the trash and ran with it. With their obscure jokes and Pimpbot skits! And the car speed chases! Oh God, I loved those so much! And the Walker Texas Ranger lever!!! His obsession with Rebecca Romijn! ♥
"Detective Conan O'Brien and Detective Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich" +rofl+
The White Stripes where the obvious choice for Conan's last show and I would have actually have been sad if it had been anybody else. I love their friendship! SO MUCH! ♥
But, I don't know. I don't get their music? Like, their performance here. Everybody seemed completely psyched and Conan obviously loved it and I was like: Umm... there is a girl in a night gown, who can't play guitar, even though she only has to play one accord? And they both fail to sing in unison? What?
But! Oh God! His speech! When he thanks all these people? It was so heartfelt. And then he got all chocked up and then I got all chocked up!!! And was like djalsdjfladjflasdf and he was like, filled with love for all these people and there are so many people who stood up for him in those hard first years and who believed in him when nobody else did and I just, jflasjdfladjfkdafljadls!! D:
"We're going to this next gig. And sometimes I read that it's time to grow up for Conan. Because he's going to 11:30 pm. I assure you, that is just not going to happen. I can't. This is who I am, for better or worse. It's just... I don't know how!"
\♥/ \♥/ \♥/ \♥/ \♥/
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon 3.02.09 - Robert DeNiro, Justin Timberlake, Van Morrisson
Okay guys! Very first show! Jimmy was under a lot of pressure and I was very interested in seeing what they would make of the Late Night format. And it was an okay first episode? You could tell that he was nervous. You could tell that he needs to learn a lot about how to interview guests, to make them open up.
He was much better at the stand-up part than I expected him to be. The jokes weren't really good, but he delivered them well.
But seriously? I have seen Conan's first episode. Jimmy was like 5000% above that. So his learning curve doesn't have to be as steep as Conan's. And I'm confident that Jimmy will get there.
Overall, the show only had one or two cringeworthy moments for me. It was good idea to let him practice with the webisodes and stuff. They aren't giving him as hard a time as they gave Conan. Thank God web 2.0, I guess. xD
But the best thing about the show? The Roots. Seriously, they are such a brilliant band, I love them to death. And I feared they would be degraded to theme tune players and commercial past time fillers, but they did a fantastic job of integrating the Roots into the show, really making them part of it. This makes me really happy.
Now for some running commentary:
Oh God, the opening sketch. With Conaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan. My Consey, I miss thee! +flaily arms and declerations of love+ Aww I loved it.
Jimmy: "Will you be taking Jay's dressing room when you get to LA?"
Conan: "Jay Leno isn't leaving. :("
Jimmy: "So, umm. That's how it's going to be?"
Conan: "Yeah. That's exactly how it's going to be."
And they both stand there with their D: frowny faces. +squishes them+ ILU guys!
FUCK! I love the title sequence! Fucking shit it's pretty!!!! ♥ And the title music is an altered version of "Here I Come" from the Roots! HELL YEAH!
The stand-up had some ups, some really down downs. But hahahaha Slow Jammin the News!!!! :D I hope they make that a regular item, that was the highlight of the stand-up, I laughed so hard.
"Target Demographics"? Whatever.
"Lick it for ten" was the total down-point of the show for me! God, that was so unbelievably awful, if they do that in every show this may actually be a reason for me to not watch everything else of the show as well. As it is, if they keep it up, I'm gonna fast-forward that part from now on, hoping they get rid of it YESTERDAY!
Oh but that just reminded me, the shameless name-dropping and product placement was awful! It was like on 30 Rock, only they manage to make it at least funny.
Oooh the guests! Okay, okay.
So Robert DeNiro. I've read reviews how Jimmy totally failed and DeNiro was too big a guest for his first show and whatnot. But, I don't know, maybe I'm imagining things. But I had the impression that DeNiro did it on purpose? Not to make it even harder for Jimmy, but because it was kinda funny? I thought it was kinda funny. +shrugs+ That sketch on the other hand? Was the absolute definition of NOT FUNNY!
To have Justin Timberlake was such a smart move. With Robert DeNiro, the show kinda slowed down, Jimmy trying desperately to get more than one sentence at a time out of DeNiro's mouth. But as soon as Justin was on stage, the whole thing became fast-paced again, the audience woke up, the show became alive!
The sad thing was that this was completely Justin's doing. He practically took over the whole thing, with Jimmy sitting on the sidelines feeling a bit at loss.
Nevertheless, it was funny, it was fun and I was once again delighted about how musical they appareantly plan to make the show. Something I really aprove of. When you have a band like the Roots you don't have them sitting around, you use them as much as possible! I hope they keep that up. :)
That was the first show, more or less. Young, hip, up-beat -- the new Late Night. I think that's a smart move from NBC, seeing as the main audience of the show are students.
But, you know, Conan is still relatively young (in comparison to the other talk show hosts), he is the complete difference of hip, but he made that work for him, creating a geeky, ridiculous, anti-cool show, which made it cool after all. And it was a hit with the students. You don't have to go MTV to reach the young ones. Maybe they want something that's not MTV for once. I know that I do.
So I hope that's not the way they are going with it. But I'm not really afraid of that happening. They made the show younger, they made it hipper, but they haven't reached music video shallowness. Yet. Late Night is still too much an institution for that to happen.
But I'll have to watch more shows to actually make out trends. We'll see.
Late Night with Conan O'Brien 2009.02.20 - The White Stripes
Gnnnh, the last show! :,( This turned out to not be a review, instead this is me being all melancholic and stuff. +g+
A few people asked me to write a review, so that they would remember to watch the last show as well. But all of you I can only recommend to watch at least the last week of shows, if not the last two weeks. Over that time they had less and less regular guests, instead making room for special guests and showed old favourites, taking the audience on a trip down memory lane.
Of course they only showed the well-known stuff, but I was nevertheless surprised by how much I already knew. Late Night with Conan O'Brien was actually the first show I watched in English. Every Saturday and Sunday night CNBC Europe showed the whole week worth of shows of both Jay Leno and Conan. And I would watch them as often as I could. That was even before I had Internet, about 9 or 10 or so years back. And it was a lovely time. ♥
Even back then when I had no idea about American television, or who any of those guests where, I still preferred Conan over Jay. Even though I had a bigger chance of understanding what the hell Jay Leno was talking about or whom he was interviewing.
I didn't understand any of the stand-up, because I had no idea about American news, American politics or American society. But Conan made me more likely crack up about any of the jokes on these topics. And accidentally through that they taught me about American news, American politics and American society. George W. Bush was that dude that always chased butterflies, like a dumb dog! (that was pre-9/11, I really didn't know anything about him) Everyone in professional baseball is on steroids! Martha Stewart likes cooking!
You may now look at me, like "How could you not have known that?" Because it is actually possible to live in Germany and know all these things, without watching Late Night television. Just by reading a newspaper or watching the news. But you see, I was a right little shithead back then, so I didn't care about the news, or even the politics of my own country! xD
Whatever! Conan! Show!
The last show, or the last several shows were really for all the fans that stuck with him over the years. Abe Vigoda!!!
They had a mash-up of the old title sequences for the last couple of shows. With the bycicle! Jumping into the Hudson! I actually remember the sequence where he did that! Hee! ♥
Gosh, the audience going INSANE, so lovely.
What I hadn't seen before was Conan's own personal favourite of all they had done over the years. The old-fashioned baseball segment! Oh God! I understand why it's his favourite! That thing was hilarious! Everytime I remember I crack up anew! xD
They completely trashed the studio in the last week, giving out piece of it to the audience, it was so funny, him sitting there, surrounded by debris. Him trashing the place with an axe was great as well. xD
I also loved all the video messages and surprise visits he got in the last couple of weeks. Will Ferrell came on in the last show, being ridic and inapropriate as always! ♥
Awww it's great that Andy Richter was a guest on the last show. :D
Oh God, when they cut together all those great moments! It just reminded me why I loved this show so much! It was soooo geeky and they just embraced the trash and ran with it. With their obscure jokes and Pimpbot skits! And the car speed chases! Oh God, I loved those so much! And the Walker Texas Ranger lever!!! His obsession with Rebecca Romijn! ♥
"Detective Conan O'Brien and Detective Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich" +rofl+
The White Stripes where the obvious choice for Conan's last show and I would have actually have been sad if it had been anybody else. I love their friendship! SO MUCH! ♥
But, I don't know. I don't get their music? Like, their performance here. Everybody seemed completely psyched and Conan obviously loved it and I was like: Umm... there is a girl in a night gown, who can't play guitar, even though she only has to play one accord? And they both fail to sing in unison? What?
But! Oh God! His speech! When he thanks all these people? It was so heartfelt. And then he got all chocked up and then I got all chocked up!!! And was like djalsdjfladjflasdf and he was like, filled with love for all these people and there are so many people who stood up for him in those hard first years and who believed in him when nobody else did and I just, jflasjdfladjfkdafljadls!! D:
"We're going to this next gig. And sometimes I read that it's time to grow up for Conan. Because he's going to 11:30 pm. I assure you, that is just not going to happen. I can't. This is who I am, for better or worse. It's just... I don't know how!"
\♥/ \♥/ \♥/ \♥/ \♥/
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon 3.02.09 - Robert DeNiro, Justin Timberlake, Van Morrisson
Okay guys! Very first show! Jimmy was under a lot of pressure and I was very interested in seeing what they would make of the Late Night format. And it was an okay first episode? You could tell that he was nervous. You could tell that he needs to learn a lot about how to interview guests, to make them open up.
He was much better at the stand-up part than I expected him to be. The jokes weren't really good, but he delivered them well.
But seriously? I have seen Conan's first episode. Jimmy was like 5000% above that. So his learning curve doesn't have to be as steep as Conan's. And I'm confident that Jimmy will get there.
Overall, the show only had one or two cringeworthy moments for me. It was good idea to let him practice with the webisodes and stuff. They aren't giving him as hard a time as they gave Conan. Thank God web 2.0, I guess. xD
But the best thing about the show? The Roots. Seriously, they are such a brilliant band, I love them to death. And I feared they would be degraded to theme tune players and commercial past time fillers, but they did a fantastic job of integrating the Roots into the show, really making them part of it. This makes me really happy.
Now for some running commentary:
Oh God, the opening sketch. With Conaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan. My Consey, I miss thee! +flaily arms and declerations of love+ Aww I loved it.
Jimmy: "Will you be taking Jay's dressing room when you get to LA?"
Conan: "Jay Leno isn't leaving. :("
Jimmy: "So, umm. That's how it's going to be?"
Conan: "Yeah. That's exactly how it's going to be."
And they both stand there with their D: frowny faces. +squishes them+ ILU guys!
FUCK! I love the title sequence! Fucking shit it's pretty!!!! ♥ And the title music is an altered version of "Here I Come" from the Roots! HELL YEAH!
The stand-up had some ups, some really down downs. But hahahaha Slow Jammin the News!!!! :D I hope they make that a regular item, that was the highlight of the stand-up, I laughed so hard.
"Target Demographics"? Whatever.
"Lick it for ten" was the total down-point of the show for me! God, that was so unbelievably awful, if they do that in every show this may actually be a reason for me to not watch everything else of the show as well. As it is, if they keep it up, I'm gonna fast-forward that part from now on, hoping they get rid of it YESTERDAY!
Oh but that just reminded me, the shameless name-dropping and product placement was awful! It was like on 30 Rock, only they manage to make it at least funny.
Oooh the guests! Okay, okay.
So Robert DeNiro. I've read reviews how Jimmy totally failed and DeNiro was too big a guest for his first show and whatnot. But, I don't know, maybe I'm imagining things. But I had the impression that DeNiro did it on purpose? Not to make it even harder for Jimmy, but because it was kinda funny? I thought it was kinda funny. +shrugs+ That sketch on the other hand? Was the absolute definition of NOT FUNNY!
To have Justin Timberlake was such a smart move. With Robert DeNiro, the show kinda slowed down, Jimmy trying desperately to get more than one sentence at a time out of DeNiro's mouth. But as soon as Justin was on stage, the whole thing became fast-paced again, the audience woke up, the show became alive!
The sad thing was that this was completely Justin's doing. He practically took over the whole thing, with Jimmy sitting on the sidelines feeling a bit at loss.
Nevertheless, it was funny, it was fun and I was once again delighted about how musical they appareantly plan to make the show. Something I really aprove of. When you have a band like the Roots you don't have them sitting around, you use them as much as possible! I hope they keep that up. :)
That was the first show, more or less. Young, hip, up-beat -- the new Late Night. I think that's a smart move from NBC, seeing as the main audience of the show are students.
But, you know, Conan is still relatively young (in comparison to the other talk show hosts), he is the complete difference of hip, but he made that work for him, creating a geeky, ridiculous, anti-cool show, which made it cool after all. And it was a hit with the students. You don't have to go MTV to reach the young ones. Maybe they want something that's not MTV for once. I know that I do.
So I hope that's not the way they are going with it. But I'm not really afraid of that happening. They made the show younger, they made it hipper, but they haven't reached music video shallowness. Yet. Late Night is still too much an institution for that to happen.
But I'll have to watch more shows to actually make out trends. We'll see.