The Banal Horror of Jimmy Fallon
www.currentaffairs.org
Under the sterile blue lights of his studio, Fallon laughs endlessly at the same pseudo-jokes, rubs elbows with Trump and Sam Altman, and ushers in the death of culture.

I don’t watch “Tonight Show,” but I watch Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas every year and damn if this existential nostalgia horror doesn’t define the Fallon/Parton musical number in the 50’s diner

  • came_apart_at_Kmart [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    17·
    14 days ago

    the last time i laughed at a jimmy fallon bit was when he imitated adam sandler on an SNL “Celebrity Jeopardy” bit.

    i haven’t been in the demographic for late night TV in decades, but fallon seemed like a weird choice to me originally. i hadn’t yet realized that the ideal host for a late night comedy show was not someone funny. rather, the ideal would be someone telegenic and mildly amusing/completely inoffensive. jay, ellen, etc.

    i stopped paying much attention after that, but im glad the article here brought up that NFT/Ape thing. that was the first thing Jimmy Fallon had done that had appeared on my radar in years. it was mind blowing to watch.

    it was when i had to recalibrate my understanding of that show, and others like it, as not just entertainment filler but cultural poison.

    guy makes $16 million a year to host that show. he’s estimated to be worth somewhere in the low 9 figures by now.

    the article makes it clear what it costs to become the crown prince of late night.