On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 11:50 AM, 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. > (SNIP) > > 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. (SNIP) > > 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. > My reaction was similar, but substantially more positive. I have seen every first episode of all four versions of Late Night since it started (actually, I think I can say I have seen the first two weeks of every version of Late Night). I can say without reservation that Meyers was the second best of the four - by a long shot. Fallon was so horrible he is hardly worth using as a measure; Conan famously was not good, even if we could see something worthwhile going on there. But I thought Myers last night was head and shoulders better than Conan's first night (admittedly, it is hard to make the proper adjustment for Myers following Fallon and Conan following Dave). Obviously I am not saying that he was perfect, or even great, but I thought he was more than just not bad. I agree that the monologue read like it was being delivered at the Update desk (and, maybe it actually should be), but I don't mind that. Leno was supposed to be a master stand up and I thought his Tonight Show delivery sucked - anything Myers can do to not be like that will be good. He has good writers, but I have also come to accept over the years that Myers himself is not a bad writer, and I think his fingerprints were all over that monologue. I remember arguing with a friend that Tina Fey must have written all of the Palin Update stuff in 2008, and then finding out from interviews done with her that Myers had written almost all of her initial Palin stuff, some of which was just transcendent (and, of course, some of which literally wrote itself). I am really surprised at home much I liked last night's show - enough that I would say of the five broadcast network late night shows, his is now my second favorite (of course, I guess I will need to see if it can keep to that level). I will record and watch at least the first two weeks, and go from there. QUESTION: In two different jokes Myers twice referred to the "11:30 Show" while referencing Tonight; is there some kind of network conceit that those shows start on the half hour still? -- -- 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.
