Don't get me wrong, I love Dylan, a LOT. But as soon as I pressed play my only impulse was to laugh. This scores very high on my unintentional comedy scale.
OK, Dylan haters: ATTACK with all you've got. It'll be my pleasure to logically and kindly prove to you that whatever Dylan does is beyond scrutiny. GO!
@depardoo: I had to look this up on YouTube, since I was unaware Dylan covered Led Zepp. He did turn it into a cheery pub jig, didn't he! It's completely unrecognizable. Plus, whatever Dylan covers becomes Dylan property, to do with as he pleases. QED + cheeri-o.
Of course, Zep's version was a cover, too. From Wikipedia: " 'When the Levee Breaks' is a blues song written and first recorded by husband and wife Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. The song is in reaction to the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927." #bobdylan
I don't watch TV, but was curious. So I tuned in, dealt with the creepy title sequence and boring monologue, listened to the same mediocre band with random singling lady, and about thirty seconds into that God-awful Car Wash skit (that likely went on for fifteen more minutes), I tuned back out. I'd say Leno should stick to autojournalism, but he stinks at that, so maybe he should just retire.
He was spot on about one thing, though: Biden and Pelosi did look like the Cialis couple.
@victoriasauce: I don't think people HATE Leno... but the Letterman vs. Leno setup went on for so long that people got used to being against him. Letterman is a funny motherfucker.
This first episode was Leno's chance to shine, when he should have gotten out his best material and the funniest segments that he's been compiling for months.
Silly billy! That was his best material! And he spent those months perfecting the racetrack, not working on segments.
I think that, within a matter of weeks, other shows are going to speak of this show like the Iran Hostage crisis -- "Primetime Leno, Day 74!" -- hoping that after the guaranteed year is up, this long, national nightmare will be over.
a slap-dash version of The Tonight Show, but with even less funny jokes
There should totally be an Emmy Category for "Jokes that are Even Less Funny than Jay Leno's Tonight Show." Cause, you know, you don't just pull stuff outta your ass -- you've gotta WORK to be that unfunny.
I agree with your statement that the Dan Finnerty sketch was painfully unfunny, but overall I don't think it was a bad show.
It seems as though the people who are criticizing tonight's show the most likely hated Leno in the first place. One would presume, then, that their predisposition would give them the lowest of low expectations, yet their assessment of Leno's performance appears to based on either a) expectations higher than those applied to Obama when he entered office, or b) no expectations at all (blank slate, not this-shit-will-suck).
To judge Leno's performance appropriately, one needs to remember that it's Leno he or she is judging.
@mattchew03: Well, going in I certainly wasn't expecting funny--but given the hype and the stakes, I did assume a certain level of novelty; some bells and whistles; maybe a desperate, egomaniacal attempt to quiet the doubters. I didn't even get any of that. I got "Headlines" instead. I mean...does he think this show is a formalist exercise or something?
@Dickdogfood: Why wouldn't he do Headlines? Leno's ratings at "The Tonight Show" prove that -- believe it or not -- he does have fans, and he'd be stupid not to give them pieces of what endeared him to them. The opinions of media critics matter, but only to a degree; in the end, the show's success will be measured by its ratings, and its ratings depend most on giving the people that have stuck with Leno for the last two decades what they want to see.
@BowlingForDollars: You thought it moved slowly? The hour kind of flew by for me, personally.
I don't think he needed to ask Kayne what he was thinking, because everyone knows that Kanye doesn't do much of that. I thought Leno's question to Kanye about what his mother would have thought about the antics last night was actually a bit ballsy.
@mattchew03:
i thought it was ballsy but also inappropriate. why are you asking him about his dead mom? his mom has nothing to do with what he did, he's an adult and the extra guilt trip that question induced was just wrong. "your dead mom is shaking her finger at you." um, wtf?
@mattchew03: Of course he has fans. I'm not claiming otherwise. And of course ratings will largely decide the fate of the show, not media critics. But media critics (and snarky Gawker commenters like myself) aren't his only doubters--some of 'em work in NBC, and some of 'em work in advertising.
And again, given the stakes, given the new timeslot (and thus slightly different audience), given the hype, given the occasion, etc. you'd think somebody not an actual robot would try to inject a little razzle-dazzle into the same-old same-old.
@BowlingForDollars: I definitely don't think it was rehearsed, but do agree that it ended up giving him an out (but one that he's already being criticized for).
@billiejeanismylover: I only said it was ballsy, didn't comment as to its appropriateness. I personally wouldn't have phrased the question that way, but I also wasn't the one interviewing him.
@Dickdogfood: Sorry, didn't get the comment notification email and just saw this.
I'm not disagreeing with you, but I still think it needs to be looked at in context. I've said this about 50 times tonight, but... Jay is old school. He knows what works for him, and he's not going to take any risks that are too big for him to be able to control their outcome. He made several (albeit not earth-shattering) modifications to the show -- e.g. shortening the monologue by 50%, including a longer sketch as part of the monologue, not going to his desk before the end of the first segment, still standing when the show came back, long sketch that he had no part of but to introduce, the new interview area, doing a performer's interview before the performance, ending the show with something familiar like Headlines, etc. -- and I think it did make it new enough but still familiar. The comedy may have fallen flat at times, but when hasn't it with Leno, and why would anyone expect it not to at least once?
10/14/09
Indeed.
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
Truedat, except I think he butchered "When the Levee Breaks". Too uptempo.
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/15/09
Of course, Zep's version was a cover, too. From Wikipedia: " 'When the Levee Breaks' is a blues song written and first recorded by husband and wife Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. The song is in reaction to the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927." #bobdylan
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
09/15/09
He was spot on about one thing, though: Biden and Pelosi did look like the Cialis couple.
09/15/09
09/15/09
09/15/09
09/15/09
09/15/09
Silly billy! That was his best material! And he spent those months perfecting the racetrack, not working on segments.
I think that, within a matter of weeks, other shows are going to speak of this show like the Iran Hostage crisis -- "Primetime Leno, Day 74!" -- hoping that after the guaranteed year is up, this long, national nightmare will be over.
09/15/09
There should totally be an Emmy Category for "Jokes that are Even Less Funny than Jay Leno's Tonight Show." Cause, you know, you don't just pull stuff outta your ass -- you've gotta WORK to be that unfunny.
09/14/09
It seems as though the people who are criticizing tonight's show the most likely hated Leno in the first place. One would presume, then, that their predisposition would give them the lowest of low expectations, yet their assessment of Leno's performance appears to based on either a) expectations higher than those applied to Obama when he entered office, or b) no expectations at all (blank slate, not this-shit-will-suck).
To judge Leno's performance appropriately, one needs to remember that it's Leno he or she is judging.
09/14/09
09/15/09
Even the moment with Kayne sucked. He could have at least asked, "What were you thinking?" Instead he wussed out and acted like a wimpy Dr. Phil.
09/15/09
09/15/09
I don't think he needed to ask Kayne what he was thinking, because everyone knows that Kanye doesn't do much of that. I thought Leno's question to Kanye about what his mother would have thought about the antics last night was actually a bit ballsy.
09/15/09
09/15/09
i thought it was ballsy but also inappropriate. why are you asking him about his dead mom? his mom has nothing to do with what he did, he's an adult and the extra guilt trip that question induced was just wrong. "your dead mom is shaking her finger at you." um, wtf?
09/15/09
And again, given the stakes, given the new timeslot (and thus slightly different audience), given the hype, given the occasion, etc. you'd think somebody not an actual robot would try to inject a little razzle-dazzle into the same-old same-old.
09/15/09
09/15/09
09/15/09
I'm not disagreeing with you, but I still think it needs to be looked at in context. I've said this about 50 times tonight, but... Jay is old school. He knows what works for him, and he's not going to take any risks that are too big for him to be able to control their outcome. He made several (albeit not earth-shattering) modifications to the show -- e.g. shortening the monologue by 50%, including a longer sketch as part of the monologue, not going to his desk before the end of the first segment, still standing when the show came back, long sketch that he had no part of but to introduce, the new interview area, doing a performer's interview before the performance, ending the show with something familiar like Headlines, etc. -- and I think it did make it new enough but still familiar. The comedy may have fallen flat at times, but when hasn't it with Leno, and why would anyone expect it not to at least once?