The Last Episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Friday was the last episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Watch it here.

Total Number of Episodes: 969.
Last Guest: Andy Samberg.
Last Musical Guest: Arguably Buckwheat Zydeco.
Last Guest Performance: The Muppets.

The last episode has a strange feel to it - the timing is off and Jimmy doesn't have any "punch" in the jokes because he's constantly verging on becoming "emotional". But the weight of the moment justifies it.

Speaking of "the weight"... the last segments of the "last shows" are part of TV history and lore. Jack Paar's "Come on, Lika... we're going home", Johnny Carson on the stool, etc.

In terms of "Late Night", when Letterman left Late Night, the last segment, he sat behind the desk and spoke to the audience. Conan's last segment on Late Night was the similar. Jimmy's bucked the trend (perhaps partly because he wouldn't be able to get through it without becoming a weeping mess). Instead of a speech, he performs The Band's "The Weight" with the Muppets and does it in a loving recreation of the version that appears in the movie "The Last Waltz".



"The Last Waltz" is a concert movie that covers The Band's last concert. The parallels with the situation of Jimmy's last show are obvious. Jimmy plays drums and plays on an identical set to Levon Helm's drum set in that movie. Jimmy grew up in upstate New York, not far from Levon's adopted home. I love that they got all the little touches right. The lighting is the same, the colors are the same, the recreation is so complete they even mimic Scorceses style of rotating around the musicians in tracking shots. Compare. I obviously love it. It's a great way to say goodbye.

The first episode of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon airs February 17th 2014.
Late Night with Seth Meyers starts February 24th 2014.

Conan - Punxsutawney Dr. Phil

Is this funny? Is it stupid? It's both! It's so stupid that it's funny...

The Super Bridges

As always, I have an ongoing project to boycott the Super Bowl as long as I don't have a rooting interest (Pre-2011, 2011, 2012, 2013). This year's Super Bowl replacement activity was..... watching "The Bridges of Madison County".

This movie came out in 1995 and got a lot of press as being a tremendous "chick flick". I had never seen it but was always curious about it so it seemed to be the right thing for the Super Bowl.

"The Bridges of Madison County" is about the bridges of Madison County. Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood star as bridges #1 and #2.

"The Bridges of Madison County" is about a housewife (Meryl Streep) who has an affair with a photographer (Clint Eastwood). She finds true love but must decide whether to follow it or stay with her family.... And that's pretty much it. It's a very simple story told in pretty tight confines - it's the type of movie that could have easily been a play (even though it really wasn't).

Meryl Streep is as excellent as always and Clint Eastwood is good too. There isn't a whole lot to say about this movie... it's a simple story, well told. It's somewhat sensual or erotic and it kind of becomes a tearjerker at some point. The whole movie depends entirely on the chemistry of the two leads and that works.

Conclusion: Definitely better than "The Notebook", probably not as good as "Steel Magnolias". Although, with that last one, it's kind of an "apples and oranges" situation.

7/10.

Movie Review: Nebraska (2013)

Nebraska (2013)

I went to see "Nebraska" at the theater at 9PM on a Tuesday and crossed two items off my bucket list. I don't really have a bucket list, but you know... Firstly, it's in black and white and so I saw a black and white movie in the theater for the first time (as best I remember). Secondly, I've always wanted to go to a movie and be the only one in the theater and that's exactly what happened with this movie. The movie theater must have known that no one was watching because they left the house lights at 100% for the first 20 minutes of the movie. But it was alright.

As the for the movie itself, it's a great movie. Bruce Dern plays an old man who gets a "Publisher's Clearing House" type letter in the mail and believes he must get to Nebraska to claim his million dollars. He's also possibly slipping into senility and Will Forte (friggin' Will Forte), as his son, must deal with the consequences. It's very subtle, very minimal and it's both a great drama and a great comedy. It reminds me of "Lost in Translation" in many respects. I especially loved the the black and white photography on the big screen - it looks amazing.

7/10.

Late Night - The Passing of the Pickle

It's a Late Night tradition that when a new host takes over, the Late Night Pickle gets passed to the new regime. In about a month, Jimmy Fallon becomes the new host of the Tonight Show and Seth Meyers will be the new host of Late Night***. And so it's time to pass the pickle.


On a personal note, I think Seth Meyers is a funny guy but I'm not sure whether I'll be watching his show. We'll see what happens...

*** All of this is dependent upon NBC not acting as stupidly as NBC usually acts and also upon Jay Leno actually going away this time. Are we really confident this will happen? I'm not.

Conan Talks to Interns

Conan has a lot of interns working for him. In a very special remote, he talks to them about what it's like to do what they do...