Why Jimmy Fallon Is Dead To Me (For Now)

Hosting a talk show - even in today's social media rich environment - is hard work. It's essentially 12 hours of daily prep in order to be prepared for that one hour of live television. It's especially difficult now, when the expectation from viewers and the network is that the show will be jammed with viral-ready bits that often require hours of work just to complete a two-minute video.

But despite all of the ways the job of late night talk show host has changed, one thing that remains the same is that at the end of the day. You have to be able to successfully execute an interview. No one expects you to be Edward R. Murrow and you can still crack some jokes. But you need to be able to look your guest in the eye, ask an uncomfortable question and keep it until you get an answer. You need to be capable of pausing, letting the punchline go by and have a conversation with your guest. This isn't the core skillset of a late night talk show host these days. But you still need to be capable of being able to do it when the moment arises.

Jimmy Fallon is a talented guy, but he's never been much of an interviewer, This isn't his fault, at least not entirely. Interviewing is a learned skill, like Improv or tying a Windsor knot. Fallon has done a lot of things during his career, but until "The Tonight Show" he had rarely been in the situation where he was required to be a serious interviewer.

That flaw in his skillset usually isn't  big problem. He's refocused the show away from star interviews and towards a mix of light, jokey questions and comedy bits. It all makes for great viral video and the stars are happy because they don't have to deal with potentially awkward questions. But there are times when Fallon and "The Tonight Show" need to be much more. And based on Thursday's show, I'm not sure that Fallon is capable of working that far out of his comfort zone.

GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump was on "The Tonight Show" Thursday evening and no matter what you think of him, he is the nominee of one of America's two major political parties. We're less than two months out from the election and the past week has been filled with lots of political news. There was clearly much to talk about, even if it was just friendly and joking. There are ways to get answers and some small amount of clarity without going full hard news on the guest.

But Fallon's interview of Trump was instead this weird mix of goofball and awkwardness that was heartbreaking to watch. I really like Fallon, but he was clearly out of his depth and his discussion with Trump was more suitable for one of the stars of a Judd Apatow film than a major political figure. The questions were lightweight, Fallon seemed to barely listen to the answers and you could see in his eyes that he was trying to figure out
how to create that viral moment out of a segment that found him being outplayed by a politician. When it was over, I felt bad for Fallon and angry that he had let such a rare opportunity go to waste.

And by the way, this has nothing to do with the fact the episode featured Donald Trump. Sure, he's arguably an easier target, but there plenty of things to ask Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. For that matter, I'd just like to know that if a guest is involved in some potentially embarrassing news story, Fallon is willing (and capable) of asking the uncomfortable questions. Otherwise, the show is just a stenographer for whatever message the guest wants to present to the public.

At some point, I'll tune back into "The Tonight Show," but for now the show is dead to me. I've lost faith in Fallon and the show's ability to be anything but a soulless factory of share-worthy videos and viral comedy bits. To be a fan of the show again, I need to feel as if there's more to the show than a collection of random jokes. Otherwise, I might as well just watch the highlights on YouTube.

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