Ugh… Jimmy Fallon

Jeongin Kim, staff editor

As talk-shows have permeated mainstream media, Jimmy Fallon has infiltrated our daily lives. The talk show format’s increasing popularity can be attributed to their illusion of accessibility—that we can be best friends with celebrities, because, after all, they’re just like us. Under this guise of a “casual chat”, they can covertly promote their various projects. The list of talk shows is endless: Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Graham Norton Show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night Show with Seth Meyers, The Late Late Show with James Corden…. or was Colbert’s’ the Late Late Show? But despite their unoriginal titles, each host manages to make their show idiosyncratic.

I enjoy Conan, Graham Norton and Craig Ferguson because they conduct fluid conversations instead of a generated for the sole purpose of complimenting their guest. Jimmy Fallon, on the other hand, is the biggest offender with his unbearably inauthentic demeanor.

Jimmy Fallon is not a skillful interviewer. An insult from the show Bob’s Burgers comes to mind: “If [he] was a spice, [he’d] be flour.” He lacks the razor-sharp wit of his talented peers and his attempts to entertain a story are so disastrous it’s almost comical. He incessantly interrupts his guests. Often, they cannot even finish their stories. And his questions? Someone fire the producers!

In an interview with actress Dakota Johnson, Fallon displays his inability to formulate an appropriate question.

“How was it working with Shia [LaBeouf]? He’s a little…he’s a little reckless, a little bit. Wasn’t he?”

Fallon was alluding to his drunken sexist and racist comments while filming the promoted movie, which he apologized for later. Still, it was incredibly abrupt and unwarranted considering they were just . Johnson awkwardly laughs and gave a tactful response defending her co-star. She does not condemn him. Rather, she describes how filming was transformative for both her and LaBeouf because of their tender-hearted co-star Zack Gottsagen.

All Fallon replied was “oh good. He is inept at shifting from a jocular to contemplative tone.

Fans love his “wacky”, “fun” games such as Drink-O, Battle Shots and Pour it Out. However, these have nothing do with his own capabilities as the games were not conceived by Fallon himself. His laughter, desk slapping and interrupting are so disingenuous, it feels like I’m watching a spineless shell. And his abundance of drinking games make me wonder what goes on behind the scenes, without the fake-happy façade that is the Jimmy Fallon we see.