Posted by Blogger on December 09, 2008 at 14:03:15:
In Reply to: Re: Jay Leno is staying at NBC, in prime-time posted by Blogger on December 09, 2008 at 14:01:47:
Oops. I forgot to include the video link. I've done it now below.
: Here's another angle: Maybe NBC is having second thoughts.:
:
: First Jimmy Fallon Webisode: I stayed up for this?
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: So the video below is what Jimmy Fallon offered as his first Webisode leading up to his March debut as the NBC late-night replacement for Conan O'Brien.
: Very crafty, Fallon. Start out by playing the reduced-expectations game, sort of like Sarah Palin heading into a debate with Joe Biden. Instead of the promised live nightly 5-minute Web tidbit at 12:30 Eastern, start off with a 96-second, heavily edited clip posted at 9:30.
: Make it devoid of humor or, really, personality. Offer as news only the studio location (6B at 30 Rock) and confirmation of the rumor that, yes, The Roots will be the house band. The only good choice for the video? Wearing the gray t-shirt from the left side of your bedroom floor instead of the blue one from the pile by the lamp.
: You touched your hair a lot, as expected (yes, the gel is still in place). But you didn't even grin or chuckle all that much. Does that only happen when Tina Fey is sitting beside you?
: We await further transmissions -- and it could be interesting if you follow through on the promise to lift the curtain on how a show is assembled -- but even by the low standards for Webisodes, this ain't much. (And it certainly doesn't inspire much confidence in NBC's decision to dump top-rated Jay Leno at 10:30 Central for Conan O'Brien, making space for "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" at 11:30. As its prime-time schedule continued tanking this season, NBC just yesterday announced Leno will stay on, every weeknight at 9 p.m., becoming, in schedule filling terms, a one-man "Law & Order" franchise.)
: Back to Fallon on the Web: It's the video equivalent of a news release, only without even the humor that one would think you'd get by having a professional comedian deliver it. That brogue I'm hearing is the siren song of Craig Ferguson.