So what kind of dorky hijinks was Jimmy the geek up to last night (Thursday, June 25)?
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon is by far the nerdiest late night show on network television. Our Twittering, video-blogging host has welcomed tech bloggers and Diggnation dudes as headlining guests; he’s showcased the latest gadgets—from XBox 360’s wireless controller to the Palm Pre—on his show and we (mostly) love him for it. With the help of Fallon’s co-producer, G4-TV Attack of the Show! vet Gavin Purcell, Late Night is courting that hyper-connected millenial audience—and they’re watching.
Jimmy was super-jazzed to host golf guy Tiger Woods. Several blog posts previewed his appearance on the Late Night site, including a “5 Things You Did Not Know About Tiger Woods (unless you read his Wikipedia page)” feature (his real name is Eldrick Tont Woods!). Yesterday morning, they played Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 on the Wii in Times Square and Jimmy’s Twitter feed was packed with Twitpics of him and his new buddy playing in front of a huge crowd, as well as posts with too many exclamation points. “Off to play Tiger Woods in Times Square! Tiger 10 on the Wiiiiiiii,” he wrote. Wee!
But last night, before we got to the showdown, Jimmy killed some time previewing a new site launched for his on-air skit 7th Floor West. “It’s our version of The Hills, but with more drama and more awkward staring,” Jimmy says. It’s pretty funny sometimes, and the new site will feature a bunch of extra footage and photos.
He also riffed off the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie, which opens this weekend, featuring “robots freaking out.” Here we go with a green screen scene and some kickers (Ex: “I love heavy metal but this is ridiculous” and “What’s in your wallet?”).
Finally, Mr. Woods lumbered on to the set. The interview is pretty, well, dry (that’s Mr. Woods for ya). When Jimmy pulls out the Wii, Mr. Woods describes new Wii MotionPlus technology for more realistic game play. “You can also play online so you get the same weather conditions that we face,” Mr. Woods said. “It has drunken hecklers, too!” Jimmy said. Heh.
Then came the on-air Wii rematch, in which both Jimmy and Mr. Woods knock their balls into the rough. Boorrring. We can watch two dudes hog the Wii in our own living rooms anytime.
The show picked up once Evan Rachel Wood arrived, all red-headed and spilling about her upcoming appearance on True Blood. She gets to make out with a “hot member of the show,” she said. “Did you see me and Tiger out here playing the Wii?” Jimmy asked. “I like the tennis ones ’cause I like how funny the characters look when they run up to their balls,” Ms. Wood said. “That just sounded really wrong.”
So how did Jimmy do? Here’s the score:
Geekiness factor (out of five): 3
Good-television factor (out of five): 2.5
Total: 5.5 out of 10. In the battle of Woods vs. Wood as Late Night guests, the lady with a sense of humor about her Wii wins. Next time, bring her out to get in on the game, Jimmy!
