"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" is a really fun talk show! It's arguably the most popular late night show, and Jimmy Fallon is pretty much universally loved by everyone because of the way he is able to entertain his audience via fun games, silly segments, and interviews that are actually interesting to watch. I've even been lucky enough to go to two tapings of the show in New York City. I'd say this show is absolutely flawless, but it has one glaring problem in my opinion. No, it's not the games that are expected to go viral just because they are creative. It's not even the fact that Jimmy tends to over sell the show by throwing his head back in laughter at every little thing his guests say. The problem that I find is that the show is painfully neutral.
What I mean by painfully neutral is that the show and Jimmy Fallon himself never really offer an opinion or become biased or one sided about a particular topic. Neutrality certainly isn't a bad thing and it is important for shows, especially comedy shows, to be neutral and make fun of everything and everyone, but it seems so tacky (more on this in a bit). Again, a lot of brands find it important to remain neutral, especially regarding politics, but this is more of a suggestion instead of a rule. "Late Night with Seth Meyers" and "The Daily Show" are incredibly biased and in favor of a more Democratic/Liberal view of things, and I totally love that. I think a show or a company should be allowed to have an opinion and not always try to appeal to everyone. Shows that are biased may lose followers, but there is a target audience in mind rather than generically trying to appeal to everyone, and that is "The Tonight Show's" problem.
"The Tonight Show" is clearly trying to be neutral only to gain and maintain a large amount of followers, not because they have a moral sense to call everybody out like "South Park" does. This becomes incredibly tacky because the show stops becoming genuine and focuses more on ratings and obtaining as many demographics as possible. Regardless of whether or not you like Donald Trump, Jimmy probably shouldn't have played around with his hair jokingly after every foul thing that Trump has ever said. The same thing could be said about Hilary Clinton. Jimmy probably shouldn't have chummed around with her in interviews after all of the email controversy surrounding her. I understand that interviews shouldn't be dry and that Fallon wants to make his guests feel welcome, but if the show is going to stay frustratingly neutral, maybe they shouldn't bother covering politics at all.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is perhaps Jimmy shouldn't condone assholes. The show should stay away from politics if it is going to remain neutral anyway. Additionally, in the future Jimmy should avoid having guests on his show that are known to have controversies. Don't act all chummy with Johnny Depp when he throws glass at his wife and possibly abused her. Maybe don't have stuck up assholes like Katherine Heigl or Russell Crowe on who clearly love the smell of their own farts and are known for being stuck up Hollywood stars. Don't shake Pee Wee Herman's hand, enough said. Most importantly, if you don't do any of these things, don't make it so obvious that you're thirsty for ratings and going viral; try to play it more cool and make it seem less forced. "The Tonight Show" is allowed to remain neutral on all topics, and I respect that, but try to have an opinion once and awhile. It's okay to hate on Trump once in a while like Seth Meyers does and it's okay to rip on Democrats or literally any other demographic, but have the guts to do it. Surely if something horrific were to happen in the country you wouldn't remain neutral on it, would you?
