Jay Leno – Kingsjester's Blog

Jimmy Fallon, of Saturday Night Live and those Credit Card Commercials with the baby, officially took over the reins of the Tonight Show last week.

And, one of his first guests was the First Wookie…err…Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama.

Politico.com reports that

The curtain rose this week on a new era of late-night TV — altering the terrain for politicians who frequent the shows and complicating life for Republicans, who have lost their most comfortable seat in front of the camera.

“The whole landscape’s about to change,” Arsenio Hall, the recently reincarnated late-night host, said in an interview. “Jay [Leno] going home is going to change it for a lot of people.”

Jimmy Fallon replaced Leno — who was seen as the one late-night host with a welcome mat out for the GOP — and moved “The Tonight Show” back to New York City after decades in Hollywood. Beyond the location, expect another big departure from Leno: Not nearly as many heavy-hitting political jokes or guests.

Fallon, who is eyed a bit warily by some Republicans, had first lady Michelle Obama on Thursday — they have a chemistry between them — after launching his new show on Monday. He said recently that his show will not be the place to go for in-depth interviews with politicians and candidat

Obama and Fallon’s only foray into politics during her appearance was a pitch about Obamacare’s provision that allows children to stay on their parent’s health insurance until age 26, with a quick quip from Fallon about the problem-plagued HealthCare.gov finally working.

“(The website is) working now. It’s so much better when it’s working,” Fallon said.

As part of the new late-night lineup, Seth Meyers is taking over Fallon’s old spot on “Late Night,” and the former “Saturday Night Live” head writer has said he does plan to focus on politics. In fact, Vice President Joe Biden will be one of his first guests on Monday, when the show debuts. Meyers and his team declined an interview request.

With the 2014 midterms not far off and the 2016 presidential cycle already in motion, a seat on a late-night host’s couch is an important place for politicians who are looking to soften their image, reach a young-ish audience and prove they have a sense of humor like any average Joe.

But there will definitely be less pure politics without Leno, experts said. While Leno and “Late Show” host David Letterman have relied heavily on politics in their monologues and had many politicians on as guests, Fallon turns political only when there’s a story so big it can’t be ignored, said Robert Lichter, director of Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University and the author of the forthcoming book “Politics Is a Joke: How TV Comedians Are Remaking Political Life.”

“[Johnny] Carson initiated political humor on late night, but Leno put it on steroids,” Lichter said. “Leno always told far more political jokes than anyone else. With folks like Fallon and others, you’ve got political humor when something big happens … so, for Fallon, politics is just one of many areas. For Leno, it was a major part of his arsenal.”

Fallon’s slimmed-down diet of politics may not be a bad thing, said Erik Smith, Obama’s senior adviser for advertising and message development during the 2008 and 2012 campaigns. As opposed to what Smith called a “sense of cynicism” toward politics that Leno and Letterman exhibit in their monologues, Fallon’s skits and stunts — like the “slow jam” — bring out a softer side of a candidate and are more likely to go viral.

Brent Bozell and Tim Graham, in their column at newsbusters.org, disagree…

The Obamas have had few more obsequious media allies than NBC’s Jimmy Fallon. Now that he’s taking over the hallowed ground of “The Tonight Show,” Fallon’s proven ability to spread his reach into viral videos on YouTube promises to become even more politically potent.

Fallon’s Obama-friendly sketches and interviews have become immediate “news” grist for the Comcast corps at NBC and MSNBC. The same sensation happens when Fallon is ripping into a Republican.

Just as NBC and MSNBC were tearing Gov. Chris Christie apart over “Bridgegate,” Fallon joined this political crusade by bringing on liberal rock star Bruce Springsteen for a jokey version of the hit “Born to Run.”

Fallon and Springsteen sang clumsy lyrics that Christie was “killing the working man who is stuck in Governor Chris Christie’s Fort Lee, New Jersey traffic jam.” The YouTube video went viral, while the media played it up as another nail in the coffin they were building for Christie’s career.

The NBC press agents are trying to paper over Fallon’s political tilt. A Parade Magazine profile on Feb. 16 oozed that Fallon “persuaded Brad Pitt to yodel, President Obama and Mitt Romney to ‘slow jam the news,’ and Tom Cruise to crack raw eggs on his noggin.” But why pretend?

In 2012, Fallon’s “slow jam” with Obama featured the president trying to sell his allegedly wonderful plans for college loans, and Fallon followed up by uttering in a low voice, “Awww yeah. You should listen to the president. Or as I like to call him, the Preezy of the United Steezy.”

After Obama trotted out campaign attacks against Republicans, accusing them for raising interest rates on students to keep taxes low for billionaires, Fallon added: “Mmm, mmm, mmm. The Barack Ness Monster ain’t buying it.” Singer Tariq Trotter then sang in tribute: “He’s the POTUS with the mostest!”

Fallon ended this spectacle later by stating the ridiculous: “We don’t take sides politically on this show.” It’s worse than that. Obama invited himself. Fallon excitedly described on “Today” afterward how “the White House called us” about doing the skit. Matt Lauer asked: “He booked himself on your show?” Fallon gushed: “The president booked himself.”

Try to imagine a conservative Republican attempting to pull this off.

Indeed. They would not stand a chance.

Being the “old codger” that I am, I remember Johnny Carson very well. Johnny had a natural, easy-going Interview Style, which allowed him to talk to anyone on his show, from a 7 year old to Movie Stars.

And, while Carson skewered BOTH political parties in his monologues, he never brought up his political affiliation on the show. He felt that if ehe invited politicians on the show, that would turn off his viewers, as they tuned into his show at the end of a long, hard workday, to be entertained, NOT PROSELYTIZED TO.

And, that will ultimately be this latest version of the tonight show’s downfall. If people want to watch shomeone suck up to the Democratic Party, they can tune in to Letterman or Jon Stewart or, if they are really desperate, MSNBC.

Each host of the Tonight Show brought something to the table. Steve Allen both comedy and musical ability. Jack Paar brought urbane sophistication. Johnny Carson brought masterful comedic timing and Midwestern “Aw, shucks” feel to the show. Jay Leno, was the “Everyman”…the wisecracking guy next door, whom you could find on the weekend with his head stuck under a car hood. And, Conan O’Brien brought…err…umm…never mind.

So, what will Jimmy Fallon bring?

If he tries to be a younger version of Letterman, he won’t be around long.

We’ll see.

Until He Comes,

Did you hear the one about the rich-as-King Midas Liberal comedians who continue to crack unfunny jokes about how rich Mitt Romney is?

The hottest trend among comedic talk show hosts in recent months has revolved around bashing Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney, his personal wealth, and his ranking in the “one percent.”

But have these famous television “comedians” forgotten that they too are far from belonging to the “99 percent” when it comes to monetary earnings?

“Mitt Romney just barely won the Republican primary in Ohio by one percent. Then Romney made the mistake of saying, ‘ladies and gentleman, tonight is a victory for the one percent!” Conan O’Brien, who is received a $45 million exit deal from NBC in 2010 and has an estimated net worth of $75 million, exclaimed.

Jay Leno, who reportedly makes $32 million a year from his “Tonight Show” gig alone, and is reported to have a net worth of around $150 million, frequently incorporate Romney-related rich jokes into his late night program.

“CNBC is reporting that America lost 129,000 millionaires last year. Or as Mitt Romney calls them, ‘an endangered species we have to protect,” Leno said, and on another occasion stated: “Mitt Romney says he understands the middle class, and that he knows it’s not easy keeping a roof over your family’s heads – as well as vacation roots in San Diego, New Hampshire, and Park City, Utah.”

The Daily Caller pointed out that Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart, who also has a prominent place on the rich Romney-jibing bandwagon and exploded over his “almost $57,000 a day” income level, makes more than 300 times the median American salary, owns three luxury homes and has been known not to pay his taxes occasion.

“How in the world do you, Mitt Romney, justify making more in one day than the median American family makes in a year – while paying the same tax rate as the guy who scans shoes at the airport?” Stewart gasped.

The political publication went on to highlight that his net worth stands at an assumed $80 million, bringing he and his wife Tracey to an estimated $41,000 a day and observed that he is well on his way to being more affluent than the GOP nominee when he reaches his age.

Fellow Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert has also unleashed plenty of zingers over the past few months – drawing attention to the candidate’s controversial joke about his father closing a Michigan factory.

“It’s like he’s on the Blue Collar tour, if the comedy was about losing blue collar jobs,” Colbert , who’s own net worth has been listed at $45 million, retorted.

David Letterman, who is reported to have earned $45 million with an overall net worth upwards of $400 million relishes Romney’s riches for ratings too, having made such jokes as “last month Mitt Romney raised $76 million. He found it in an old sport-coat pocket.”

Jimmy Fallon, worth about $16 million, also mocked: “A new survey found that Mitt Romney is ahead of Obama among those who make $36,000-$90,000. Or as Romney put it, ‘And they said I can’t connect with the poor.’’

Then there HBO commentator Bill Maher, who told his audience: “Mitt Romney was sitting down with some unemployed workers the other day. Mitt is worth a quarter of a billion dollars, and he said, ‘Hey, I’m unemployed too.’ That is the famous Mormon sense of humor. A little tip Mitt, your people are only funny when the ‘South Park’ guys write your jokes.” Mind you, Maher’s monetary value is approximately $23 million.

If you haven’t been treated to all of this so-called hilarity, then you probably haven’t heard about MSNBC’s latest round of selective editing, either:

During an afternoon broadcast of “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” video of the GOP presidential candidate seemed to show a politician out of touch as he discussed ordering a hoagie at Wawa.

The video clip went viral after the blogsite SooperMexican.com pointed out in a post that it appeared doctored.

“It’s amazing,” Romney said, as the Pennsylvania crowd appeared to laugh. Then viewers saw Romney say, “You have a touchtone keypad, and you touch that, touch this, go pay the cashier, there’s your sandwich.”

What viewers didn’t see or hear was nearly three minutes of Romney discussing the nightmare of paperwork faced by an optometrist he’d talked to in trying to get the post office to change his address. He expressed mock amazement at Wawa’s efficiency to underscore how the private sector often runs circles around the clumsy bureaucracy.

“We went to Wawas and it was instructive to me, because I saw the difference between the private sector and the governmental sector. People who work in government are good people and I respect what they do, but you see, the challenge with government is that it doesn’t have competition,” Romney said in a portion edited out of the segment.

But Mitchell invoked an old perceived campaign stumble by George Bush, who supposedly marveled at a supermarket scanner at a grocers’ convention during his failed 1992 re-election bid. Even though Bush was actually impressed not by an ordinary scanner, but by a then state-of-the-art device that could weigh food and read damaged bar codes, the anecdote was reported by The New York Times and offered as evidence that Bush was out of touch with everyday Americans.

Representatives for the Romney campaign declined to comment, but officials from the Romney camp had reached out to the Peacock Network, which promised they would correct the issue.

At the opening of Tuesday’s show, Mitchell addressed criticism over the misleading edits.

“There’s been a lot of discussion about a conversation you and I had yesterday, Mitchell said to MSNBC contributor Chris Cillizza, “We ran clips of Mitt Romney in Cornwall, Pa., talking about his trip to a Wawa.”

“The RNC and the campaign both reached out to us saying that Romney had more to say about that visit, about federal bureaucracy and innovation in the private sector,” she added before playing the unedited clip from the rally.

Lauren Skowronski, a spokeswoman for NBC, which owns MSNBC, denied that any deceptive editing took place.

“MSNBC did not edit anything out of order or out of sequence and at no time did we intend to deceive our viewers,” Skowronski said.

Remember, these are the same paragons of Broadcast Jounalism ethics who pulled off the following, per Breitbart.com:

In August of 2009, NBC’s Contessa Brewer (who still has the same job) used deceptive editing so that that MSNBC viewers wouldn’t know that the man carrying firearms to a Tea Party was a black man. This allowed Brewer to then host a segment about how racist the Tea Party is towards President Obama and how this racism might just lead to the unthinkable–the assassination of our President.

How effective is their Liberal Propaganda?

Well, now, just as then, when caught, I’m sure that both of their viewers were satisfied with their explanation.

Kingsjester's Blog

Tag: Jay Leno

Has the Tonight Show Become a Democratic Propaganda Machine?

Liberals: The Hypocrisy and Deceit Continue