Posted on 03/09/2014 8:44:55 AM PDT by Kaslin
Open Letter to Jimmy Fallon:
I have long been a fan of yours, from your SNL character Sully (“Tommy, please tell me you got that!”) to the best skit of all time, Cowbell. You appear in one of my top 10 movie picks (Almost Famous) and I much enjoyed the uniqueness of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. And last month I was delighted to see you take on the enormous role of replacing Jay Leno as host of the Tonight Show.
The Tonight Show is an American institution that seems to belong to all of us. And it was like we all kind of picked you for the position by liking you above all the other possible candidates. As you can appreciate, Mr. Fallon, delivering the Tonight Show monologue to America every weeknight is a tremendous responsibility. So if you don’t mind, I have some advice that will hopefully go a long way in keeping you from messing it up.
There was a lot to love about your immediate predecessor, Jay Leno. He was personable, his delivery was great, and he worked hard to provide a full evening of entertainment. But Jay fell short in one area that became a reliable source of annoyance five nights per week for me and several million other patriots.
Jay Leno was blindly ignorant and bigoted in matters of American civics. Even while making fun of everyday folks for their lack of knowledge in U.S. history, Jay would frequently reveal his own illiteracy on the topic. By living exclusively within the entertainment terrarium, he did not realize how isolated and stale that his social cognizance had become. So 85% of the time, his comedy was clever. And 15% of the time, he made himself look like an unenlightened boob.
Advice #1: Understand America. Expose yourself to the political right. Folks in the entertainment industry live in their own incestuous culture on the hard left. Because they do not mix with the common folk, they do not relate to everyday sensibilities. You are great with pop culture, social media, and all that. But your viewing audience is not limited to the under-40 crowd living in a coastal city. Make listening to Rush Limbaugh, Dennis Prager, or Dennis Miller a part of your week (yes, really). Understand the fear that people face daily in losing liberties to an aggressive government, finding work, protecting their children, keeping their homes, and caring for their aging parents.
Advice #2: Avoid advancing political propaganda. Get yourself well-informed regarding the truth about stories that provide easy standup material. It drives educated viewers nuts when comedians keep falsehoods alive. Chris Christie did not shut down the George Washington bridge. And George HW Bush was not unaware of barcode scanning technology. Treat such rumors with the same care that you would give to the location of Barack Obama’s birth.
Advice #3: Balance criticism. Not everyone thinks that Sarah Palin is an idiot. Try to get your head around this one: In every measurable way, Sarah Palin is immensely brighter than Barack Obama. She knows how to pronounce corps, how to spell R-E-S-P-E-C-T and how many states there are. When giving famous personalities a good jab in the ribs, I recommend that you follow the example of South Park creator and writer Trey Parker. If you are going to make fun of Christians or Mormons, poke at Scientologists and Muslims just as hard. We can all laugh at ourselves when we believe that we are not being cruelly singled out.
Advice #4: Try sophistication with political humor. A well-crafted zinger will get people thinking rather than loathing. The quips of Mark Twain are cutting, but fondly memorable.
Advice #5: Be respectful of all elected officials. To be sure, not elected officials are created equal. But they are loved by the number of people who cast a vote for them. Jay Leno lost credibility with the viewing audience when they saw the difference between how he treated guests Newt Gingrich vis-à-vis Barack Obama. Leno interrogated Gingrich like a White House Press Corps journalist. But after Obama left the couch, Leno could be seen embracing the cushion where the President had been sitting.
Advice #6: Use your platform to humanize politicians. Mr. Fallon, among your many gifts, you are great at bringing out the real personalities of famous folks. By interacting with celebrities like no other host we have ever seen, we learn about their playfulness and their hidden talents. I encourage you to continue this practice to help us get to know the human side of the more lofty notabilities.
Advice #7: Develop perspective. Your personal music repertoire is astonishing. If you were to develop a similar depth of understanding in history, science, economics and faith, you will recognize selfish agendas and avoid serving as the comedic lackey for the vogue du jour. Read respectable, non-fad books. It will sharpen your wit, help you to avoid offending sensitivities, and increase your following.
Mr. Fallon, you now live in rarified air, breathed by merely five others in the sixty-year history of the Tonight Show. Your talents, good looks, hard work and diligence brought you to this place at the early milestone of 39 years old. You can return the blessing by investing in your capacity to deliver sagacity through jest. Or, you can take turns with David Letterman, pulling each others’ finger. I hope that you compose thoughts worthy of being the last words heard by Americans before they fall asleep every night.
I wish you well.
Mark Baisley is wishing out loud. Sorry buddy, ain’t going to happen.
Although someone took the fall for Christie I am not sure that he did not know about the GW bridge closing. He is a big fat slimy politician and NOT a conservative in any sense of the word.
Advice #8: Don't let anyone know your political affiliation. Johnny Carson never let anyone know and it helped him to serve the needs of everybody by just being funny and poking both sides.
Wow, thought provoking & well delivered! Will there be an acknowledgement of understanding the context of the letter or even reading it?
Fat chance.
Speaking of Johnny Carson
TCM channel has ‘Carson on TCM’ every Tuesday at 8pm (Eastern) this month.
http://carson.tcm.com/schedule.php
I don’t watch him. A few nights of the new show were enough.
Too much Jimmy all the time. Have been watching some Carson interviews on Turner Classics and I realize what he had was the ability to keep his mouth shut and let the guest talk.
He’s already broken every one possible in his first couple of weeks, so I am not hopeful.
These hosts are isolated. Listen to the young women yelling “woooooo” when he tells such jokes. He is getting rewarding by plants in the audience. The tonight ratings are number 1, so why change.
I can outline tomorrows monologues for you. Mayor of Toronto, Putin, Obama respect (still fresh, and Sarah at c-pac (possible punch line “she could see the Crimea from her hotel room”). And then a few about NYC rats or trash pick up or mayor. Night after night, same old thing.
Nothing about obamacare causing people to pay more or lose insurance, mayor of NYC closing charter schools, Obama on a vacation while no WH tours, anything that makes liberals look like hypocrites
Fairness or balance are not attributes these people seek. Note: letterman is still on the air after insulting Bush almost every night about verbal miscuesand seeing his ratings go from number 1 to #2. Nothing on Obamas mistakes and has and uhs.
Why change when they will still pay you tens of millions a year and the president and first whatever seek to be on your show.
In one ear and out the other. Remember that libs always think they can do it “better” than the last guy. From socialist politicians to TV and radio hosts. He’ll end up doing what every lib host does. Throw us a bone every now and then and then back to commie ass kissing.
don-o Advice #1: Kill Your Television.
Too late for Fallon. Everyone and his grandmother knows he’s like a daily Democrat press release and pimp.
The only people I know that like Fallon are young females. Fallon isn’t funny, and doesn’t possess talent.
On the other hand, we brought on a manager a few years back who within her first week of work, bashed Sarah Palin in the workplace (it was during the 2008 election cycle) and spouted other distasteful left wing propaganda. She didn't last in the company very long although she seemed to be a very talented manager otherwise.
With regard to Sarah Palin and the "I can see Alaska from my house" meme that continues to dog her, I would embrace it. Self-effacing humor is the best way to combat this sort of nonsense that the Left throws at us. Ronald Reagan was a master at this by the way and as a result, the Left never was able to get his goat.
Now I know that Sarah never said this and it was actually started by a SNL cast member that was imitating her, but if I was Sarah, I would have had some fun with it in my speeches. People that have the ability to laugh at themselves during a public speaking engagement come across as secure, strong, confident and likable. Reagan did this all the time and it made his critics furious. That's why he was called the "teflon President."
Well, I’m not a young female, but an older female. I don’t like his looks. I’m not saying he’s ugly or anything like that, but there’s something about his face, especially his eyes, that seem distant and detached. Even if he was the funniest guy alive, I can’t connect with him.
Baisley will have about as much luck appealing to Fallon as I do to my lib brothers and sisters. The problem is most libs do not want a dialogue. They do not want their cherished assumptions challenged. Every lib walks around with a self-made halo around their heads firmly believing they are the people trying “to do good.” And to be sure Hollyweird celebs love to look down on the folks from flyover country. It gives them a sense of superiority. In short, Baisley’s appeal to Fallon will fall on deaf ears.
Fallon is the biggest horses ass to ever hit TV.
He’s so bad I can’t stand even 2 seconds of him.
I don’t care for him. I don’t know why.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.