Andrés du Bouchet has been a writer on The Late Show, The Tonight Show and Conan for the last seven years, and it seems he's just about had it. Du Bouchet took to Twitter to criticize "prom king comedy," among other things, and was clearly talking about The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Fallon's comedy is obviously pretty different from Conan O'Brien's, and it can't feel great that the latter didn't get the chance to blossom on the Tonight Show like Fallon has.
But in many a thinkpiece since Fallon took over from Jay Leno, critics have pointed out that love him or hate him, Fallon is making late night comedy relevant to younger audiences in a way it hasn't been for decades. After the Gen X and hipster tendency to like things only ironically ran its course, Fallon shook it up by being unabashedly enthusiastic. On the Tonight Show, comedy doesn't have to be edgy—things can just be fun and funny.
But is du Bouchet right? Should late night comedy push the envelope, or is that now relegated to cable and the likes of Amy Schumer, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele and Larry Wilmore? One thing we can't agree with: lip-syncing is funny, and it's way more interesting than watching a celebrity give a practiced, fake interview. Right, Paul Rudd?
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