There are two ways to look at Jimmy Fallon's experiment this week, in which the NBC host watches his show at the same time as his East Coast audience and streams the experience live on his show's blog while interacting with fans via multiple online platforms: 1) This is just like watching Late Night with a bunch of your bored friends who would rather stare at their laptops than have a conversation with you -- or 2) This is kind of cool that a late night host wants to interact with his viewers. Although I was torn when I first tuned into the stream last night, I started to enjoy last night's online viewing party as the ultimate "shared experience," for good and for bad.
Late Night fans recognize the term "shared experience" from segments in which the NBC host, wanting to connect with his audience members at home, instructs his viewers to do something at the same time as him -- like making balloon animals or screaming in horror. It may seem lame to viewers who do not tune in regularly -- OK, it seems lame to me, too, and I do tune in regularly -- but the host is trying upgrade his audience members from bystanders to active participants. This week's Watch Jimmy with Jimmy effort is just the latest in Fallon's campaign to incorporate his viewers into the show. And it got off to a rocky start last night.
Partly because the live feed -- which fielded messages from the 4,000 to 8,000 participants who were in and out of the virtual party -- barraged the host with a rapid-fire series of requests ("Do Barry Gibb!" and "Robin Williams impression!" were among the favorites) and random questions ("Who is your favorite Beatle?" "Can I be an intern?") and straight-up heckling ("This is bullsh*t!").
The office full of staffers seemed overwhelmed as to where to start -- so they took turns watching the show in silence, pointing out questions for Jimmy to answer (FYI: he has not seen Conan live yet but has tickets to the Radio City Music Hall show) and thinking of ideas on-the-spot for the next day's show (fans can tweet subject suggestions for a song that the writers will pen for tonight's show). Sound hectic and at times boring? That's because it was... but it was also a glimpse into the untidy inner workings of a late night experiment in its earliest stages, and for that, I am grateful.
Check back later this week for Movieline's updates on the most exciting revelations uncovered in Late Night with Jimmy Fallon 's viewer party.