A Critical Look at Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show

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JIMMY FALLON LAUGHING

The Tonight Show Starring It’s Own Laugh Track

Who can even remember the last time The Tonight Show was “cool?” Maybe a few short weeks near the end of Conan O’Brien’s tenure, but that was equal parts sad and mean at the same time, kind of dampening the experience. No, The Tonight Show hasn’t really been “cool” since Johnny Carson left, and even Johnny’s last couple years were getting a little schlocky.

For whatever reason, the fact a once great comedic institution is unquestionably lame now didn’t really bother me as I grew up with Leno, or even later when I learned through videos that even Johnny eventually started to get passé and kind of lose his touch. Leno was 100% pure corporate creation, the human embodiment of selling out; that might bother someone for creative reasons, but it isn’t surprising the result wasn’t very cool, and NBC never tried to hide what Leno was. With Johnny, he just got tired, and you can’t blame a guy for aging, either. The problem with Fallon is that he isn’t just becoming old hat, and he isn’t a corporate creation, either: somehow, he’s entertainment’s head cheerleader, and you guys, oh my god, he is having sooooo much fun!!!

I guess it’s fair to point out I’m somewhat biased in that I’ve never liked Jimmy Fallon. A lifelong SNL fan, Fallon was a regular cast member and the co-host of Weekend Update when I was first old enough to stay up late and watch the real show, instead of watching reruns on Comedy Central. Even then, I hated Fallon so much I convinced myself I hated Tina Fey by association, too, not realizing I actually like her until 30 Rock. By contrast, my favorite Weekend Update host has always been Norm Macdonald. Macdonald hosted during an era of the show so dripping with cool Rolling Stone was calling Norm one of the primary reasons to own a television, and although it may be hard to believe, Rolling Stone was pretty cool at one point, too.

So what is it about Jimmy Fallon that’s so unbearable and obnoxious to me? I can acknowledge he’s performed his jobs essentially the same way Norm or Johnny did. On SNL, he performed in sketches and made jokes about the news. On The Tonight Show, he performs in sketches, makes jokes about the news, and talks to celebrities. The problem to me is that unlike all the others, good and bad, Fallon can’t even act like a human and live in the moment, because he’s too busy showing the crowd you guys, I have the coolest job ever, I get to do this!

Fallon doesn’t make jokes and chat with his guests; he literally jumps up and down and giggles while they play games. I’m not going to pretend I’m a Fallon expert who’s watched hours and hours of his content, but I don’t think that’s even possible, because what Fallon produces rarely even qualifies as “content.” Guests might attempt to tell a story now and again, but even that is interrupted with loud, irrelevant interjections, and his even louder, obnoxious, painfully unreal laugh. As an improviser and comedian, part of me even wants to defend him for that laugh. He gets a lot of flak for breaking character, but, hey, it happens. Fallon’s case isn’t like most, though; while some performers break character at a particularly funny or absurd moment, Fallon breaks character simply when he remembers people are paying attention to him, which is all the time, because it’s his job. Jimmy Fallon isn’t a person, an actor, or a host; he’s a caricature of excitement, and with no actual humanity to back that up, it’s just fake cheer and bombast. It’s yelling “Go Team!” and saying that means you share their victory, despite the fact you have absolutely no actual connection to the team.

The Tonight Show isn’t the only place in popular culture we’ve seen this. In fact, we’ve seen it on every terrible sitcom since the 1970’s—it’s called a laugh track. Similar to how one can excuse a performer breaking character in the right circumstance, we can excuse a laugh track if something actually funny is happening, but take away the jokes and it’s torture. It’s the same reason TV shows like Friends and The Big Bang Theory are absolutely unbearable to wide sections of the public at large despite being wildly popular with the rest of it—the budget got higher while the jokes fell flatter, so producers decided to split the difference by having an attractive people who were really happy to be there because of how cool it was to get to play the major roles. And it is cool to star on a sitcom, to be on a sketch show, to host a talk show, etc, if the show is any good. If, however, the show is terrible and the fact the pretty people are happy to be there is the only substance anyone can apparently relate to, it’s offensive and alienating to everyone out there who knows it can be done way, way better, by involving just one single creative mind.

Laugh tracks have been controversial for some time, especially since TV more or less permanently moved away from live studio audiences and started using the canned laughs of audiences passed. A studio audience can add to a show, but a laugh track feels manipulative and dishonest—who exactly decided everything Sheldon Cooper said was funny? Isn’t most of it just…scientific fact? Same goes for Jimmy—who decided what he’s saying is funny? Isn’t most of it just…saying he’s excited? There’s no face to put on a laugh track and say, “There is no way you actually thought that was a joke, and if you did, you don’t know what a joke is,” but we can easily put a face on Jimmy’s laugh track, because he is his laugh track.

It’s true Jimmy Fallon and laugh tracks aren’t cool, but let me clarify: comedy doesn’t have to be cool. It does, however, have to be self-aware, and Jimmy Fallon is being uncool while screaming to everyone about how cool and funny he is. That’s the subtext behind every giggle; the message that Jimmy is getting to do so awesome and everyone is watching him do it! If a single person in the audience has seen real comedy before and doesn’t think Jimmy is awesome, his perception changes from a jovial host to a disingenuous liar, ignoring the audience or flat out telling them, No, you’re wrong, I am awesome and hilarious and have been appointed as such by NBC. Can’t you tell? I’m laughing so hard! David Letterman wasn’t cool, he called himself a dweeb every night. Conan O’Brien constantly calls himself a loser. Even Leno pretended he thought he was lame without looking too smug. Jimmy might self-deprecate, but he does so while giggling and smiling and making sure everyone knows they should be laughing at him.

I don’t know what kind of person watches Jimmy Fallon’s show, just like I’ve never understood what kind of person watched Friends or the TBBT, either; I just know there are millions of them. Maybe I’m wrong about comedy and they’re all right, maybe hearing people laugh at something means it was a joke, even if it was clearly just a poorly worded statement. Since it was a joke and people laughed, even if they were recorded people, or the person making the joke, it must have been funny. That is certainly what comedy looks like. And if you only know what it looks like, and you don’t know what it is, then Jimmy Fallon sure looks like he’s doing a great job at it.

If, on the other hand, you have seen a good comedy show…

If you have seen good performers matched with good writing, lead by a good host who didn’t just giggle at himself, who actually made jokes, who connected like a human…

Then maybe you’re more like me and you keep wondering to yourself just how good the blowjob Jimmy Fallon gave Lorne Michaels must have been, while dying for anyone with substance to rise up and take his place.

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Lucas Wesley Snipes

Lucas Wesley Snipes is a writer, improviser, and standup comedian living in Los Angeles. He is also a trained trapeze artist, which he loves telling people.
Lucas Wesley Snipes
Lucas Wesley Snipes
Lucas Wesley Snipes is a writer, improviser, and standup comedian living in Los Angeles. He is also a trained trapeze artist, which he loves telling people.