The Jimmy Fallon Effect

Jimmy Fallon reigns as King of the current television talk show landscape. Following his successful career beginnings on Saturday Night Live and The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon, Fallon assumed the role of The Tonight Show host in February 2014.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is recurringly the highest rating program in its time slot in the US, and generally attracts an average of 3.6 million viewers per episode.

Less than a year into his new gig, why does Fallon continue to dominate his late-night counterparts, Kimmel and Letterman? Simple — he is providing audiences television that they want to watch, something of value to them. ‘Talk’ is now being replaced with comedy and musical sketches clad with celebrity guests, and audiences are responding to it in ratings and on the Internet. The Tonight Show is a reflection of the shift in entertainment value among modern audiences, academic Andrew Hart suggesting social and environmental factors play a significant role in audience perceptions.

The television talk show is a programming format that has been around basically since the inception of television itself, inevitably changing throughout the decades to suit differing audiences. The shift we are seeing now is a natural progression of entertainment and is being mimicked by the whole industry. But does this mean the death of the true talk show?

For the purposes of my argument, I’m going to call this change The Jimmy Fallon Effect.

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Fallon and JT have a jig[/caption]

A recent study by communications professor and author, Steven Winzenburg, found that Fallon spends an average of 37% of each Tonight Show episode actually talking to guests, a significant decrease from predecessor, Jay Leno, who allocated 51% of his program to celebrity chat. Perhaps, ‘variety’ may now be a better term for the show.

The Jimmy Fallon Effect within the industry is evoking fear in Winzenburg for the traditional format of the talk show. “If Fallon continues to push comedic sketches and music at this pace while retaining his premiere-week popularity, the entire genre may evolve into only a small portion of the program used for actual talk segments,” Winzenburg states.

However, this is what the young audiences of The Tonight Show, aged 18–40 are seeking. Their entertainment value no longer lies in information distribution, but the novelty of seeing celebrities do absurd things.

Let’s quickly backtrack. Oprah Winfrey, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Regis Philbin — all greats of the TV talk show. Winzenburg’s TV’s Greatest Talk Shows identifies these names as the ‘A List’ of television talk show hosts. While this is definitely subject to opinion, he bases his argument on entertainment value, longevity, informational value and audience interest. Guests often included influential figures such a Ronald Reegan and President Obama, with significant Worldly issues being discussed. Information was the key driver.

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Oprah is joined by Barrack and Michelle Obama[/caption]

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Fallon is joined by Taylor Swift in comedy segment, ‘Ew’[/caption]

Now, we are seeing Taylor Swift don braces and piggy tails, transforming into a teenage ‘geek’ for the comedy segment, ‘Ew’, and Emma Stone go head-to-head with Fallon in an epic lip sync battle. I’m not complaining because these segments are hilarious, and they remain two of my favourite skits from this season.

It’s interesting to note, however, as Daniel Burt from The Sydney Morning Herald suggests, that while this works to humanise the celebrity and make them relatable to audiences, it’s not really about the celebrity at all. “The appeal of a … tonight show can be tested by whether you tune in for the party even if you don’t recognise the guests”.

For Fallon, it’s all about exposure and reaching global audiences. Fallon not only rules the television but he kind of rules the Internet as well. His comedy and musical skits have a way of going viral, and it often seems that this is his main intent. Footage of Emma stone lip-syncing reached 19 million views within a month of it being posted, while the ‘Ew’ segment was recently adapted into a song and official music video, with guest appearance from artist, Will.i.Am. With more than 13 million views, this is taking the talk show to a whole new level.

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Ellen played Heads Up with guest, Kaley Cuoco.[/caption]

Let’s not forget that while Fallon reigns supreme, he followed many predecessors. Ellen DeGenerous is particularly well known for her pop-culture and gaming segments, and has now captured audiences in a new and global way. Often challenging her celebrity guests to her own version of celebrity heads, Heads Up, the electronic game can now be purchased on the App Store. Heads Up achieves and average of 26,000 daily installs, engaging audiences and expanding entertainment beyond the show itself.

Talk shows no longer serve their original purpose because celebrities are more accessible than ever before. Information is available at the click of a button, so entertainment value for audiences now lie largely in novelty, pop-culture and comedy. Many shows have accommodated this shift, and The Jimmy Fallon Effect is likely to result in much more of it in the future. The talk show is not dying, but evolving, and still fulfilling the purpose of attracting interest and providing entertainment to audiences. I say, keep up the good work, Jimmy.