On 'Tonight Show,' Jimmy Fallon Looks To Bridge Two Eras
When Jimmy Fallon first stepped up to lead a late-night talk show in 2009, he looked like a teenager trying to drive his dad's Ferrari: a good kid who was out of his depth.
But little of that hesitation was evident on Monday night, when the 39-year-old comic finally took on the mantle that was promised him more than a year ago: host of NBC's most storied late-night franchise, The Tonight Show.
He survived scrutiny replacing Conan O'Brien as Late Night host during NBC's last, ill-fated late-night shuffle, but Fallon faced a tsunami of newly pointed questions during this transition. Would infamous workaholic Jay Leno actually step aside? Could Fallon's impish shtick work with Leno's aging audience?
And how did the guy once known mostly for busting up Saturday Night Live skits with uncontrollable giggling wind up hosting the longest-running late-night show in TV history?
Fallon's first Tonight Show on Monday set about answering those questions in an almost methodical fashion, smoothed over by the host's irrepressible nice-guy energy. He spent long minutes explaining his personal history and the show's evolution, thanking Leno, introducing his parents in the audience. ("I wish I could have gotten you better seats," he cracked. "But it's a hot show.") And then there was his bow to his awesome house band, hip-hop's legendary crew The Roots.