Oh, how droll: The late-night Jimmys swapped shows for April Fools
Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel swapped places last night, provoking chortles and clapped hands from the delighted masses
Aux News The Tonight Show
Ah, the magic of April Fools: That whimsical day when two very rich white guys named Jimmy can swap their nationally broadcast TV shows, producing minimally different episodes than they might otherwise have produced!
That’s right: Late night talk’s two most extant Jimmys pulled a little switcheroo last night, with NBC’s Jimmy Fallon flying to California to fill in as host on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, while Jimmy Kimmel headed to New York to surreptitiously seize the Tonight Show, like some sort of transcontinental Jay Leno.
And while we have no evidence that this whole thing—apparently in the works for two years of meticulous plotting from the greatest minds in “booking a plane ticket and not telling Questlove” science—was a Machiavellian plot by Kimmel to remind the world he’s about a hundred times the joke teller that Jimmy Fallon is, that certainly was the end result. God knows how Tonight Show audiences must have reacted to a couple of actual pointed political jokes flying across their stage, even as Fallon gently tousled the hair of the ABC audience with some extremely tepid jabs about the network’s programming, before defaulting back to an actual, non-ironic “Damn Daniel” joke.
Then the two men called each other for some energetic and comedically charged banter. “This is magical,” Fallon asserted, dead-eyed, to his audience. “This is a lot of fun,” Kimmel blankly replied.
Honestly, the most amusing thing about this whole scenario is imagining what would have happened if someone had tried to pitch it 20 years ago. Can you imagine the veins that would have popped out on Leno and Dave Letterman’s foreheads if you suggested either man cede his stage to the other?
Anyway: The night concluded with simultaneous performances by Red Hot Chili Peppers on both shows?! (They pre-taped the Kimmel one and played live in New York.) Will these giggle-inducing wonders never cease?
94 Comments
Ah, the magic of April Fools: That whimsical day when two very rich white guys named Jimmy can swap their nationally broadcast TV shows, producing minimally different episodes than they might otherwise have produced!This is rhetorical, but why is there so much editorialization on a “newswire” article? In a section of the website called “news” no less.
They used to have funny writers on this site like a decade ago who would make snarky, almost Onion-esque articles on pop culture news. Now I guess it’s been baked into the house style of this site. So we have random people half-heartedly trying to be clever and cynical while writing for a site on its dying breath.
RIP Sean O’Neal.
Yes, I reproach myself every time I bother to check in with once-awesome, now worthless website. I miss those writers and all those great features: Year of Flops, Classic TV Club, Hatesong…I could go on.
Yeah, people shouldn’t watch shows they apparently hate. That’s how I try to live.
Also, Kimmel and Fallon have two different comic sensibilities and outlooks on the world. There are lots of way the late night comedy world could be more diverse, but I think the fact that two of the people in it are named Jimmy is more coincidence than evidence of sameness.
Imagine waiting months to go see Kimmel in person only to get the “dorky giggling boyfriend.”But yes, this was pretty cool, even with RHCP playing.
Is Frusciante still in the band? And if not, has he rejoined the band in the time it took to type this comment?
They have two good songs.Give It Away and Higher Ground, which isn’t even their song. That sappy slow ballad about a bridge or something is pure dreck.
I’ll go out for Breaking the Girl too.
No. TWO songs. TWO! Also, hope this gets you out of greys!
Thank you! It’s been a painful journey.
“I Could Have Lied” is a jam
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9DlNOA06Y9E
That guys knows what he’s doing. All the crap in just a few minutes.
Breaking The Girl, Stone Cold Bush, Subway To Venus, Green Heaven, Blood Sugar Sex Magic, and a few others. Those are damned entertaining songs.
Nope. They have two good songs, only one of which is their own. This is the way.
I like their version of Love Rollercoaster but that may just be the Beavis and Butthead music video talking.
B + B are sharp critics. They know.
First and still best:
Nope. First worst. I said what I said. This is worse than that bridge song. But good luck getting out of the greys.
Imagine waiting months to go see Jimmy Kimmel.
People who ridicule entertainers because they personally aren’t entertained by them are entirely missing the point of life.
I disagree. I think it’s one of life’s great pleasures.
I don’t hate Jimmy Fallon because he doesn’t entertain me. I hate Jimmy Fallon because he is a hack who has failed upward into fame and fortune. If you don’t critically analyze the world around you, I’d contend that you are entirely missing the point.
How is that worth hating someone for?
I think you both have valid points.Fuck, does that make me a Fallon?
You wanna be a Fallon?
Fallon doesn’t want to be a Fallon.
You mean you never heard of the Millennium Fallon? He’s the guy who packs 5 minutes of entertainment into an hour.
To be a Fallon, you have to ignore both points, and just encourage the posters to tell nice stories about themselves that don’t get into anything that might make someone uncomfortable.
I can’t tell if it’s cute or offensive that you think that’s what critical analysis means.
Consider it offensive, because if your view of critical analysis doesn’t encompass applying a, uh, critical lens to public figures, then you deserve to be offended. Is it really so hard to have a little bit of passion behind your opinions? At least admit that the point of life can’t possibly involve defending millionaires on the internet.
Something tells me you haven’t collected the data or done any kind of research besides your own personal opinions to determine Fallon has failed upwards, which is always needed to complete a critical analysis, and you’re taking this way, way, wayyyy too seriously, so yikes.
You’re right, I haven’t taken the time to survey all those peer-reviewed studies on the subject. And here you are, taking all this just as seriously. Yikes.
I’d keep this going, but I stop engaging with people after their second ‘I know you are but what am I’ response.
Projectors project projection onto projectors projecting. News at 11.
Also, since when the point of life is watching Fallon’s crappy night show?
I wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole. However, it’s not exactly one of those shows you need to watch to get the gist.
I don’t know man, you don’t have to like Fallon to think this article is a weak and contrived attempt to recapture the snarky glory of old-school AVClub. If a joke sucks, I’m not going to go for bat for it just because it’s directed at someone who deserves jokes made about them. That’s also part of critically analyzing the world around you.
Completely agreed! Won’t find me defending the AV Club. OP’s point is still shit though.
True. But did we need an analysis of two late night talk show hosts having fun, but not in a manner approved by the nebulous, unwritten AV Club rules?
How has Fallon “failed upwards?” He was well liked on SNL, and is exactly what people seem to look for in a late night host: he’s amiable, bland, and an easy thing to watch as you’re falling asleep. He has some of the same personality traits that made Leno a ratings winner over Letterman and Conan, despite both being far smarter and funnier than him.You don’t like Fallon’s comedy. For what it’s worth, neither do I. But there’s a market for them.
Don’t hate Fallon for failing upward. Hate the system that allowed him to fail upward. Hate the game, not the player.
Jimmy Fallon is the Chris Pratt of the Jay Lenos.Sorry you find him entertaining.
That might be going a little far.
I personally ridicule Fallon because he willingly humanized Donald Trump with his own platform long after it should have become clear how dangerous that was to do.
Congratulations, you are now qualified to be an AV Club writer. Running that hair tousling thing into the ground has been their first order of business on any article even remotely involving Fallon for the greater part of a decade now.
I appreciate that he informed me that they are white and wealthy. Crucial info.
People who ridicule entertainers because they personally aren’t entertained by them are taking it upon themselves to correct the issue by managing to wring some entertainment out of said entertainer.You know how the Native Americans would use the whole buffalo? This is essentially the same thing.
You mean ridiculing stuff you don’t get isn’t the whole point of life?
Sounding quite toxic there. Have you considered a career change? Or just jealousy that you’re not one of the rich guys?
Can’t punch up, can’t punch down. Where CAN you punch these days?
Haven’t you heard? Punching is soooo last year. It’s all about the slap nowadays.
Punching at the Kimlon/Falmel of the world just makes you look pathetic. Yes, it is punching up, but neither of those guys stirs enough feelings in normal people to where it matters
On stage at the Oscars?
There’s punching up, then there’s punching up while being as big a hack as the likes of Fallon, and to a lesser extent, Kimmel.
Nazis. You can always punch Nazis.
More like Jimmy Killme and Jimmy Failin’ am I right?
Um, this seems harmless?
Exactly. I haven’t watched Fallon since this pattycake Trump interview, and I found this article obnoxious.The overriding ethos of “enjoying things is for suckers” is exhausting. Which is not to say one has to shower entertainment like “Morbius” with praise (since it’s obviously garbage), but dunking on stuff like this makes one look like a crank.
I’m pretty sure that “enjoying things is for suckers!” is the AV Club’s motto.
It’s just not “edgy” enough for him. He practically drown in his own ejaculate writing about the Rick & Morty April Fool’s stunt on Adult Swim.
???Fallon is shit. Most of the criticisms are aimed at him. This is dunking on shitty pop culture
Dumping on what you think is garbage is bad. Dumping on what I think is garbage is good.
Clicks ain’t gonna get themselves I guess.
Yeah, agreed. It was a clever, elaborate gag. And I’m fine with bitchy snark if it’s actually funny. This was not.
They do make a cute couple.
The whole anti-april fools day vibe around here this year just showcases what kind of humorless fucks are running the place these days. too many fart cushions growing up?
This is pretty fun, what more can you ask for from April Fool’s day? Don’t spend so much energy hating late night hosts lol
Yes but tell us how you REALLY feel?
So like, did Fallon get on his hands and knees in front of you and Kimmel push you over, tripping you into a puddle of mud or something?
Would watch
I’d assume that everything was blurry after that.
God, I hope so.
Ah yes, let’s make fun of the two guys with long-running late night talk shows. Clearly they should aim to have more of a visceral cultural impact like, say, an AV Club writer.
A call to do more punching down? Bold!
“two very rich white guys named Jimmy”Talk about a writer with “small dick energy.” Get it out of your system, darling. Which aspect of these guys do you envy the most- that they’re rich, white, or named Jimmy?
*looks at birth certificate with Jimmy crossed out and William written instead, flings across room*“God DAMN you, Mother! How could you do this to me?!”
Well, the two Jimmies are fairly replaceable. Most late-night aficonados would agree that Stephen Colbert is the host who is indispensable these days…
Geez, this reads like a poor white guy wrote it.
This reminds me of when the Jez writers went on a tear against “Kevin Can Wait”.
i love how it’s, “oh, how droll!” followed by a horribly failed attempt at drollness. if you hate everything about pop culture so much, why don’t you get a job that doesn’t entail writing about it every day. white talk show hosts suck! OK! you know what else sucks? who ever line edits this site. (it’s April Fools’.) you know what else sucks? when a once-very-good website gets run into the ground with listicles and “news” posts about SNL commercials. have fun with whatever is left of this.
This was already done 25 years ago by two other rich white guys: on April Fool’s 1997, Pat Sajak hosted “Jeopardy!” and Alex Trebek hosted “Wheel of Fortune” and, if I remember what I read correctly, neither of them acknowledged or referenced it and played it straight.
Still, the vaguely wary tone of the author in this piece entertained me greatly.
Sajak was, in fact, a pretty darn good Jeopardy! host.
Really??? Because i found it to be one of the most tiresome, obnoxious, and utterly pointless articles I have read in quite some time.
If you’re gonna write a piece about an absolute non-event that you couldn’t care less about, at least have some fun with it. Give the readers a laugh. Or don’t write anything at all. No one would’ve noticed. Or cared.My god this fucking place continues to fall apart in front of all of us.
.Sorry “William” (let me guess……you refuse to answer to ANYONE brazen enough to ever DARE address you simply as “Bill”) that life has beaten you down to the point you can find absolutely NO joy in some of the silly little things most of the rest of us can occasionally still find amusing…..
What the fuck is the point of the article? Do you have any idea how stupid and pointless an article has to be in order to be the most obnoxious article on a site that employs Sam Barsanti?I dont like either Jimmy, but good grief… this is just the dumbest article ever.
When this site dies in the near future, I hope you look back on this article and realize you were partly responsible for its downfall by writing aggressively obnoxious and pointless nonsense like this, which lacks any and all self-awareness and any semblance of wit.There are actual talented writers out there who are actually interested in pop culture, beyond just dismissively talking about how far below them it is. And yet they continue to employ people like you and Barsanti and tun this site into the ground…
Good lord William. Get over yourself and just move it along.
The person who wrote this article is dead on the inside and needs to give the game away.
I don’t watch either, but I can see where this is funny.
What is this cynical bullshit? I’m not a huge fan of either of these guys, but it sounds like a fun little stunt they did. Lighten up, Joe Cool. And of course we get a jab at the Tonight Show audience in the AV Club’s typical, “No make fun of Trump hard enough!” criticism of comedy.