Jimmy Fallon, Trump hair-ruffler and dude-bro, is reportedly realizing that Stephen Colbert is winning the late night wars, & now is getting political!
Jimmy Fallon is aiming to stop with the fluff and head into political jokes. That’s the word according to Uproxx, who claim that for the fifth straight week in a row, Stephen Colbert — host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — has been trouncing Jimmy Fallon in the ratings. (CBS happily touts proof on their press release site.)
According to conventional wisdom, part of the reason that Colbert is finally winning the ratings game, after being mired in second place to Fallon for the last year, is because he’s not afraid to get political and “in your face” while Fallon prefers to keep things “topical.” (IE: non-offensive.) Conventional wisdom may be right here–Colbert’s ratings run at the top coincides almost exactly with the duration that trump has been in office.
Unsurprisingly, “topical” doesn’t work in a world where the majority of people are fighting fascism. Who knew?
This isn’t the first time that Jimmy Fallon has suffered as an end result of that infamous hair ruffle. According to The New York Times, the American viewing audience, as a whole, denounced Fallon when Trump became President, and they hit him where it hurt the most: his ratings. The Times also reports that viewers appreciate Colbert’s brand of political humor over Fallon’s more fluffy brand of celebrity pap.
"“Mr. Colbert’s show has taken on a political charge in recent months, and it has only accelerated since Mr. Trump won the election. He has been openly critical of Mr. Trump, and last week Jon Stewart, Mr. Colbert’s old late-night partner on Comedy Central, appeared in a scathing segment.”"
But Fallon — who, in a previous life on Saturday Night Live, was a brutal commentator on Weekend Update — certainly has the ability to be as scathing as Colbert. In fact, he just might benefit from doing so.
"““They had to figure out a way to get Trump [into his routine] because he’s too weak on Trump, and viewers are going elsewhere. [He’s been] uncomfortable talking about politics, and that’s not what the people want.”"
Next: Stephen Colbert Roasts Donald Trump, And We Are Here For It
Guess being nice to people who aren’t nice to others has a negative effect, doesn’t it, Jimmy Fallon? We’ll have to see how his political rants–when he finally launches them–measure up to Colbert, as well as Colbert’s real current competition, Seth Meyers.