Taped From New York...It's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon"

Television history is being made before your eyes...

It's not often that The Tonight Show gets a new host.

This is the 6th time in 60 years that someone new has taken over the desk.

The last time that I put any serious time into watching this show, Johnny Carson was the host.

When he said goodbye, I was upset that David Letterman lost the gig to Jay Leno, so I moved to CBS with Dave when Leno came onboard, and that's pretty much where I stayed for the next 22 years.

Sure, there were occasions when Jay would be on, usually because I had let an episode of ER or Law & Order run through the local news, and then The Tonight Show would start and the monologue would be half over before I realized I needed to change it.

I rarely found Jay Leno funny.

Amusing, sure.  

He's had lots of amusing bits over the years, but a great majority of those are because of the dumb people in America (Jay Walking, Headlines) moreso than anything Leno brought to the table.

Then there was the whole Conan O'Brian fiasco, and any begrudging respect I might have had for Jay over the years was washed away.

So it was with great happiness and a touch of skepticism that I welcomed the news that Jimmy Fallon was taking over The Tonight Show.

Taking it back to its roots in New York City.  Bringing a younger generational spin to the granddaddy of late night talk television.

Thanks to the Winter Olympics and a newborn, I watched The Tonight Show for seemingly the first time in a generation when Fallon came aboard.

And I laughed.

In fact, to sum up my feelings on the regime change:

I've laughed more in 2 weeks watching Jimmy Fallon than I did in 22 years with Jay Leno.

I've always been a fan of Jimmy Fallon since his days on Saturday Night Live.  His comic sensibilities and all around showmanship have been on display over the last two weeks.  

To be fair, I never watched an episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.  Sorry, I was hooked on Craig Ferguson.

So, not being familiar with any of his routines from that show, I'm not sure what skits/routines are old bits, but they all work for this viewer.

Whether he's dancing with Will Smith looking at the history of hip hop dance or rapping with Justin Timberlake, there's nothing Fallon is afraid to try.

Pretty cool.

I'm happy to say that I'm once again a fan of The Tonight Show.

I think Johnny Carson would be proud of what Jimmy Fallon is bringing to the show and bringing it into the 21st Century.

Final Grade: A-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: If I'm up, I'll keep tuning in.  Otherwise, I'll keep checking out the video highlights on YouTube/Facebook/Twitter, etc.