A warning for all those villains out there still fighting that nasty War on Christmas (ok, there really aren’t any of them and that’s not a real thing).
But still, a warning:
Jimmy Fallon is coming for you. And he’s armed to the teeth.
He’s got sweaters; he’s got a special SiriusXM channel; he’s got wrapping paper; he’s got oven mitts; he’s got candy cane brownies; he’s got stockings (the kind you hang, not wear); he’s got his own quartet of holiday spices (notably: Apple Pie Spice!); he’s got a Christmas-themed jigsaw puzzle; he’s even got his own Yule Log. (As in, a video starring a burning hunk of wood—with special appearances by Jimmy and some friends.)
Of course those are just the appetizers. The big servings are an album of original holiday songs and an ambitious original hour-long primetime holiday special.
That last one is almost guaranteed to be among the most-watched Christmas-centric shows of this season, not just because it includes an array of big name guest stars, from Justin Timberlake, Jonas Brothers, “Weird Al” Yankovic and Meghan Trainor, to Dolly Parton and of course The Roots, but also because it’s on at 10 p.m. tonight, directly after NBC’s two-hour extravaganza about pushing a button to light the iconic Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza.
If you need a little Christmas, right this very minute, you can gorge on 180 minutes of it tonight on NBC.
The holiday fest is extremely on-brand for Jimmy Fallon, not just because he has carved out his own niche in late night, with his inclination to lean on the first syllable of “funny.” It also offers him a different showcase for a truly wide range of talents unique (at the moment) in late night, and an eagerness to display them all.
Music, especially. Fallon plays guitar and uke; he sings with skill and style unmatched in the rest of late night now that James Corden is gone (not likely John Oliver will be releasing his own album of Anglo-American holiday favorites next season); he can do dead-on impressions of singers like Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, and Barry Gibb; and apparently he writes good enough comic Christmas songs to create a 25-track album (if you get the deluxe edition) and induce top artists to sing with him. (Other collaborators include Ariana Grande, Megan Thee Stallion, Cara Delevigne, and Will Ferrell.)
Fallon has said in recent interviews that he wrote all the songs on his new album, “Holiday Seasoning,” (vinyl, pressed in special Christmas colors, $35; signed CD, was only $18, now sold out; but a deluxe vinyl edition with signed insert is still available for $60).
It’s probably fairer to say there was song-writing collaboration with some of his partners. Jimmy’s account of the backstory behind last season’s catchy “Wrap Me Up” song (which is included on the album) was that he sent a suggestion to Meghan Trainor and she sent him back a different take on the song, which they then worked on together.
The odds are good that people know about the album and the special because Fallon has promoted them not only on his Tonight Show (which he certainly has) but also far beyond. He sang one the songs, “Hey Rudy,” on a float in Macy’s Thanksgiving parade with a few members of The Roots. And he’s been on Howard Stern, the Today show and even (a very funny) appearance on Hot Ones, talking up the album while wiping away tears and snot.
Is there a risk of just a little overexposure? After all, he already had the theme park ride at Universal Studios, the now pro-forma children’s books, the Halloween attraction at 30 Rock, the P’Jimmies with Alex Mill, the spots with his toothbrush for State Farm, and hitting a golf ball (nice swing) for TaylorMade.
But this isn’t your Dad’s late-night anymore. Surely there are folks who see Jimmy Fallon to the point of exhaustion and blurt out occasional utterances whenever he turns up unexpectedly like: “Dave would never do stuff like this.”
Of course, that’s true. Letterman on a Thanksgiving float? Or singing, “State Farm is there!” before throwing it to Jake? Not gonna happen, bro.
And not just because Dave made enough money to disdain all the extra song and dance (literally, in Jimmy’s case).
Fallon is making plenty of money from NBC. But he has to be aware of the new exigencies of late night. Only a few months ago they cut The Tonight Show back to four nights a week. The regular late-night ratings are, like all of linear television, shrinking inward from the edge.
Even digital numbers, which late-night shows, and especially Fallon and Corden, who could do music-oriented bits like “Carpool Karaoke” and “Mom Dancing” with Michelle Obama, relied on to break into the zeitgeist, now only rarely hit massive numbers of views on sites like You Tube and Tik Tok.
Fallon had a recent smash with a Wicked-themed duet riff between Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. That has drawn more than 80 million views on Tik Tok.
Tonight’s holiday special has plenty of high-profile stars but it’s not going to have anywhere near that Tik Tok population in attendance. Still, like his anniversary special earlier this year, it will draw a crowd. Moreover, it does two things that make a lot of sense for Jimmy Fallon:
It lets him show off all the entertaining things he can do that don’t involve a desk and monologue.
And it extends his personal brand: Let’s try being merry.
I loved Jimmy Fallon’s Christmas special, admire him for starting with SNL and working his way up to his own show, I like him much better than Seth Myers who I detest! I read some negative comments and I think people are losing there sense of the child in them. Some were pretty mean and there is no reason for that.