On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 2:50 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote:
> Frankly, as I'm watching the first episode, I'm comparing it the Dennis > Miller's days hosting the syndicated talk show from Tribune. Both were > Weekend Update anchors who made a leap into talk show wars. And both faced > a hard climb to succeed. Miller had to accept that such a show was not for > him (he also had to accept that Shannen Doherty was not a good talk show > guest, but I still like her). As for Meyers, here's my breakdown of the > first installment: > > The opening theme sounds almost exactly like a hymn we used to sing in > church. I can't think of the name of the hymn, but it will come to me > later. In any event, the theme/hymn drones on and feels longer than it is. > > One comparison to Fallon: He has better monologue writers than Fallon, but > he still reads the jokes like he's sitting behind the Weekend Update desk. > Doing the monologue, Seth reminded me of Conan in his early days: the delivery is not as good as the material. > > The banter between Meyers and Armison (Armeson? Armisin? don't care enough > to look it up) sounded rehearsed and forced. > It felt to me like they were trying to emulate Letterman and Shaffer in the early days of Late Night when you had no idea of where Paul would go with an answer. Other hosts and bandleaders have tried this type of banter (I remember one in Israel in the '80s) and they can't make it work. And, Dave and Paul were unscripted, so Dave would have to react to Paul in real time. Hopefully they will adjust and change the concept. > > Amy Poehler was probably a good choice for first guest, because there > wasn't enough of a connection to SNL on the show. But seriously, it > probably helped Meyers to interview someone he's comfortable with and knows. > Plus she is an improv star and she can figure out a way to work with whatever comes her way. That can keep a new host loose. > > > In my mind, having the VP as a guest had the potential for disaster. I > couldn't help but think back to Leno's first Tonight Show when he had an > economist on to grind things to a halt. But keeping Poehler on the set at > least gave both guys something to talk about to sort of keep things loose. > I remember when Biden was the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and he appeared on Charlie Rose's show. Biden would blow me away with his intelligence and knowledge of what was going on in the world. I don't know that the first night of a late night talk show is the right venue to hear him at his best. > > Meyers chose a great musical guest. Great Big World's song "Say Something" > is in my opinion one of the best heartbreak ballads ever written. with or > without Christina Aguilera's harmony. > > Overall, this was a better hour of television than Fallon's first Late > Night or his first Tonight Show. I think if the show is still around in six > months, several things will change. > One recent guest on Marc Maron's WTF was a writer for Jimmy Fallon in his first year or two hosting Late Night. The writer said that the first six months were the most interesting before Fallon settled on his on-air persona. After that the jokes became more formulaic. I think it will take Seth about six months to make his transition from Weekend Update to Late Night. > > One thing I would do as Lorne Michaels is take advantage of two > back-to-back shows across the hall from one another. Crossover musical > guests, get the two hosts bantering... heck, that precarious rooftop > concert stage can be shared, right? Make the block from 11:35-1:35 seem > like a giant penthouse party. Maybe even do what Kimmel did when he started > and offer alcohol to the audience. But above all, for me to tune in, I want > to see more spontaneous moments. Both new shows felt forced and timed down > to the second, but if you have a live audience, take a breath, experiment > and power through the stuff that doesn't work. > > But I will say I enjoyed Late Night with Seth more than I expected to. It > won't be appointment TV, but I'd wager I'll watch him more times than I > watch Fallon. > I agree that both the Tonight Show and Late Night suffer from a lack of spontaneity. It makes me appreciate Craig Ferguson more. Ferguson brought a lot of skills to his show, having been a writer and director as well as an actor. And Ferguson has turned his show into his own little world. I hope Seth figures out a way to do that. -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
