Olympic help or not, the fact that Fallon is skewing older than Conan might not be so bad in terms of longevity for the program if he keeps a fair share of Leno's audience.

I should also add that the ratings for the Olympics were down yesterday. Compared against the second-Tuesday ratings for Torino and Vancouver, Sochi came in third.

Torino (2006) - 25.1 million viewers
Vancouver (2010) - 21.3 million viewers
Sochi (2014) - 18.9 million viewers

It was also the second lowest rated night for the Olympics so far (Saturday - 17.1 million viewers).

The Olympics are also apparently down to historic lows (for the Olympics) in the 18-49 demo.

http://m.deadline.com/2014/02/olympics- ... ican-idol/

I wouldn't say there is too much cause for concern here. Rio's numbers could be pretty high (perhaps higher than London) due to less time delay.

Jimmy Fallon just played charades with Emma Thompson (acting wasted and awesome as usual), Bradley Cooper and Tim McGraw. That is why I love his show.

Tonight was easily his best show of three so far. Didn't seem nervous at all, wasn't overly spastic, and the show was funny.

If he keeps making shows like this he'll do just fine against Letterman and Kimmel.

On a side note, I'm starting to think Letterman might finish third when this all evens out. Not by much behind Kimmel, but still third.

The second episode was weighed down by Jerry Seinfeld, who is no longer funny or particularly interesting.

Except the opposite.

Ratings Watch!

Fallon

Monday - 11.3 million viewers/18-49 (3.8)
Tuesday - 7.4 million viewers/18-49 (2.3) (second biggest Tuesday Tonight Show since 2000)
Wednesday - 7.3 million viewers/18-49 (2.4) (highest rated Wednesday Tonight Show since 2004)

Obviously it's because of the Olympics, but that's outstanding.

He got a 3.0 in the demo last night which is kind of insane actually considering the Olympics only did a 3.5.

So I spent the afternoon watching the entire week of Jimmy's show and I have to say it was better than I was expecting. I hate admitting that but I enjoyed it. He's basically getting the chance to do what Conan was, more or less, likely not allowed to do which was continue Late Night under The Tonight Show's name.

Seth Meyers is very boring so far.

Seth got better once he got to the desk, but the monologue was a disaster, which is funny because that's what everyone thought he'd be good at (he'll probably get better with time). It was like being shot at with jokes. Rapid fire one after the other with most of them not landing. He needs to learn to riff in between each one.

And then once he got over to the desk, he seemed more relaxed and the material got better, but boy did they skimp on his set budget. The band area looks fine, and the monologue area looks fine (a curtain would look better), but the desk portion looks awful. They gave him two cheap looking chairs, and a desk that doesn't even go all the way down to the floor. It looked like he was hosting a public access show. They need to give him a proper desk and a couch. It looks like they spent a decent amount on the other two areas of the set and $500 for the desk and chairs.

I agree with this. The monologue was only marginally better tonight. You really have to be patient when judging these shows, though, so I'm holding off on much judgment for a while. Fallon was awkward and terrible for, like, months before he started to find a groove.

Letterman is retiring in 2015.

Meanwhile, I just started watching Craig Ferguson finally.

Louis CK! GET HIM.

Rumor is that CBS is going to go hard after Colbert.

I love Colbert, obviously, but how would he fare without the gimmick?

I read about the Colbert rumors, also heard talk about Chelsea Handler and Conan O'Brien. Handler could be a risky choice, more because of her style of humor. O'Brien would seem kind of boring since he failed last time.

Vegas odds have Colbert as the clear frontrunner... and the more I think about it, I think a non-satire Colbert would be perfect for it.

But then comes the question of would Comedy Central put anything in Colbert's old slot?

Does Leno have a clause preventing him from late night for a while? Because that would be priceless

I think Letterman still has some say in the process and would probably pitch a fit. I don't see Leno trying that. There are actually rumors about Leno going to CNN to replace Pierce Morgan.

Does Chelsea Handler stand a chance at all? I'm not familiar at all with her talk show (though what little I've seen, I wasn't impressed) but she did just announce she's ending her show this season. Nothing says change in late night on one of the biggies like a WOMAN hosting.

Colbert can only do it if he's gimmick-free. Which I think will work, but I don't know if it's going to steal Fallon's younger viewers.

Firing Craig Ferguson will be a mistake. Launching two new hosts at the same time could prove disastrous. And Craig could easily beat Seth Meyers if given a younger-skewing lead-in to expose his silly humor to a new audience.

CBS don't you dare touch Craig.

RIP, Dave.

(Retire In Peace)