The Olympics are now over. For the last two weeks NBC has reminded us with great regularity that Jay Leno would return to his 11:35PM time slot. Last night Jay was back, opening with a sepia tinted, "It was all just a dream." His jokes were a predictable fare of Dick Cheney's heart problems ("his sneer will be back in no time,") and Tiger Woods' Gatorade contract ("apparently he was seeing 5 other sports drinks.") To some viewers, Jay's comeback show was comfortable with the old gags and routines. But to at least one reviewer, Hank Steuver of the Washington Post, the show seemed "off":
It all seems like ancient history now (or perhaps NBC would like it to seem that way), but something seems off about Leno being back in the job. Nothing's changed. For some viewers, that's just fine. For others, it's a bitter pill, made more so by NBC's "Tonight Show" advertisements during the Olympics that featured a smug-looking Leno and snippets from the Beatles song "Get Back" ("to where you once belonged"). As with all things in the so-called "late night wars," the ratings will determine where bedtime America really stands.
Maybe it's just me identifying more with the younger, more hungry host but the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, which follows Leno, seemed more creative to me. Last night Fallon celebrated his one-year anniversary show with a brilliant parody sketch of the LOST TV show. Over the course of the last month, our sermon series at Church Requel has been on the topic of LOST from Luke 15. We've had our own fun with the TV show in the process. So my antennae was up for LOST references. I'm not usually awake that late at night, but from what I saw last night I wouldn't be too surprised to see Fallon move into the 11:35 slot in the not too distant future. For those that would like to watch the LOST parodies, I've embedded them here for your entertainment. This first episode was aired a couple weeks ago. Fans of LOST will appreciate this. It's like LOST, except in an office building rather than an island:
And here is episode two from last night's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Instead of a plane crash, there's an elevator incident.
