With all of the drama in the late-night landscape of late, one overlooked fact is that 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon' on NBC -- which employs by far the best and coolest house band ever, The Roots -- is turning one year old in March. Initially, few knew how Fallon would adapt to the new medium, but a year in and several viral smash hits under his belt (including his brilliant Neil Young impression singing 'Pants on the Ground'), things are going pretty well for Jimmy and his crew, even if he won't admit it. "We're a year old, and I'm barely understanding what we're doing. Maybe ask me next year, and hopefully I'll say it takes two years to get to know what we're doing," Fallon told PopEater during our exclusive interview, literally seconds before running on stage to kick off his show. With The Roots pumping in the background, here's what Jimmy told us:PopEater Spends Five Minutes With Jimmy Fallon
By Mike Hess Posted Feb 12th 2010 02:21PM
With all of the drama in the late-night landscape of late, one overlooked fact is that 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon' on NBC -- which employs by far the best and coolest house band ever, The Roots -- is turning one year old in March. Initially, few knew how Fallon would adapt to the new medium, but a year in and several viral smash hits under his belt (including his brilliant Neil Young impression singing 'Pants on the Ground'), things are going pretty well for Jimmy and his crew, even if he won't admit it. "We're a year old, and I'm barely understanding what we're doing. Maybe ask me next year, and hopefully I'll say it takes two years to get to know what we're doing," Fallon told PopEater during our exclusive interview, literally seconds before running on stage to kick off his show. With The Roots pumping in the background, here's what Jimmy told us:On the 'Late Night' Workflow: "A lot of people told me it was going to be super hard work, and it is if you want it to be good. It's definitely a crazy schedule, but it's totally worth it when things work."
How He (Jokingly) Relaxes: "Mountain climbing... every other weekend. Everyone should do it. If you got a good mountain by you, call up a good sherpa and just let loose."
On Whether He Tries for Viral Hits: "We're not going for it, but it's definitely a fun thing to watch because you don't know what's going to go viral. 'Pants on the Ground' makes no sense. I guess that was 'American Idol,' but before that we had 'Fresh Prince of Bel Air' with Neil Young -- that makes even less sense. And before that was Zach Morris. That was our biggest viral hit, but there's no real way you can tell what's going to be viral. It's really exciting once it picks up speed, because it hits the 300,000 mark and then it's out of your hands and it's like watching election results. Like 'Oh my gosh!'"
"And ['Pants on the Ground'] actually got back to Neil Young. We got a call from a friend of ours who worked over at Conan. At Conan O'Brien's last show, Neil was doing sound check and did 'Pants on the Ground' -- my version of him singing 'Pants on the Ground.' It's insane. It doesn't make any sense."
On Brett Favre Singing 'Pants,' Then Losing in the Playoffs: "I'm going to say that wasn't my version he was singing."
On How He Got The Roots as His House Band: "I guess the best thing I can say is just ask... I talked to them [band members ?uestlove and Black Thought] and asked them 'Would you guys want to do this?' And I gave them my big pitch... So we had a meeting up in Lorne's [Michaels] office, which is more impressive than my office, which is a hole with a desk. So Lorne's office overlooks 8H where 'Saturday Night Live' is ... I gave them my pitch and said you'd raise the bar of what a house band would be. You play with everyone from Tony Bennett to Jay-Z and he [?uestlove] goes: 'Alright, I've got two questions for you. One, say there's an artist out there that doesn't get too much airtime -- say Herbie Herbie Hancock is in town. Can he play with the band? Second question is, if this is Lorne Michaels' office, where's the popcorn?' And I was like, oh, he's a comedy fan, I love this guy."
On The Show's Keys to Success: "Without the Roots and the Internet, we wouldn't be where we are. That's a fact. We're a year old, and I'm barely understanding what we're doing. Maybe ask me next year and hopefully I'll say it takes two years to get to know what we're doing."
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Hw needs to go back to SNL. Period.
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He wasn't very good on SNL. He laughed in too many skits, and is just unfunny in general. SNL sucks now, but it doesn't need him again.
oooops, that should read "he" NOT hw.
My point is, he hasn't done ANYTHING (this show, movies etc) as funny or funnier than what he did on SNL.
Like Will Ferrell, his best work was on SNL.
He's horrid as a host of a talk show cos all he damn well does is TALK! He constantly inturrupts his guests and he's just not funny anymore, which is a shame cos I really wanted to like him in his new role.
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I don't understand what this article is about? jimmy Fallon is horrible. Everybody watches Craig Ferguson who is really funny, and I thank Jimmy Fallon for helping me discover Craig. Poor NBC, what dumb bastards. They are stuck with dumb and dumber.
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Hey Roy! OMG! I couldn't have said it better myself!!!
I "TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU!" I call him "THE TURD!!!!!!"...LOL!!
I like Jimmy Fallon, but I don't like his version of Late Night. Too many stupid bits! Lick it for 10? Wheel of Carpet Samples?? Air Drums??? The band is good and I like Head Swap. When Jimmy gets to show his talent for singing, impressions, satire, etc., he's at his best. But he needs better writers.
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Jimmie Fallon is so phat, dope, cool, and fly that there is no per to his hip Gen X and Gen Y fare. He is right in touch with the young generation and is todays representative of what is in. Baby boomers need not apply. That generation is now in retirment and the old SNL is but history. Kudo's to NBC for hitting the mark on this one.
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Falon rocks, just like Conan! And the Roots as the house band? Holy S*#@!!! How awesome is that!!! Go Jimmy!
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fallon can't interview, he can't do stand-up, he doesn't have writers like at SNL to showcase what he can be funny at sometimes
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There's no other way to say it: The show simply s*cks! Too bad, Fallon seems like a good guy. The gig with del Toro was pretty funny, but those moments are few and far between.
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Fallon is in WAY over his head ... hell, he wasn't even a prominent member of the (dreadful) SNL cast. He needs to do Saturday morning kids shows -- maybe then, someone will find him funny... uh, on second thought, make that "mildly amusing" ...
AND, he sucked in that movie about the Red Sox.
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I LOVE Jimmy's show, I think he's been a great choice so far. He's a very gracious interviewer and
he isn't snarky, keep up the good work.
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Might being flamingly gay have something to do with ththis no-talent's success?
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I love Jimmy I actually like him better now than when he was on SNL yeah he does some stupid things sometimes but we need to give him a chance he'll get there. Conan wasn't the greatest in the beginning either.
Jimmy has done a good thing so far by having THE ROOTs!
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HE "SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!"
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WHO THE HELL IS JIMMY FALLON ?? OH,THATS RIGHT, I DONT WATCH POOP TV SORRY
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OOPS, I FORGOT TO SAY CONAN SUCKS TOO
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CRAIG FERGUSON KICKS ALL THOSE ASSES
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Detroit loves Jimmy ! The Roots Rock !
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Jimmy fallon is very very good!!!!!!!!!!!!
The ROOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best house band ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Watch and learn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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