Well, folks, this past week in the Arts and Entertainment world, we just saw the passing of the Tonight Show desk again from one man to another, and the loss of one of the best critics and my muse. Let me start with the good news first.
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As you heard from last Wednesday, the much-troubled network of the peacock, NBC, has give Jimmy Fallon whole control of the Tonight Show enterprise from Jay Leno, starting next year after the Olympics. It was also big news for New York City because Fallon has decided to keep taping here for the transition, which means that the network will build a brand new studio at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Plus, Jimmy will still have his house band, The Roots, on his side when he takes over the throne.
My opinion on this news: I think that network head Robert Greenblatt wanted Fallon to take over because of the ever-growing younger viewers populating our viewing nation. Plus, the competition is tougher than ever now, since the other Jimmy (Kimmel) has leaped from the post-Nightline slot to the post-local news slot and Arsenio will soon be woofing back and getting busy again next fall. For me, I think this takeover could finally work, unlike what really happened four years ago when the network wanted to keep both Jay and Conan (and we all really know what happened after that, folks). Plus, Fallon's Tonight Show could help bring the city's tourism rate to a level high (say, about 56.4 million). Despite my mostly loyalty to Letterman, I'll be watching on the nights when Leno says his final goodnight before going back to the comedy club circuit and Fallon takes over the Tonight family business.
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Speaking of NBC, the first Saturday's airing of one of my regular appointment shows, Smash got just a 0.5/1 share in the 18-49 market and 1.88 million viewers last night. Who would have think that this show would have the misfortune to be knocked out from its Tuesday night spot to make room for a crummy Bachelor look-alike and begin its Saturday night run on the same night of the NCAA Final Four. I think that a fan club could come in order and start a campaign to renew the show. Why is quality shows are getting ruined by dumb reality shows nowadays? Why the heads of the networks aren't caring more for the older and family viewers? Maybe Greenblatt should refocus his network next season as the place for baby boomers, families and urban people to watch.
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Now, for the sad news. Words cannot express the sadness I'm feeling about the sudden death of one of the deans of American film criticism, Roger Ebert. He had some experiences with cancer, which robbed him of his ability to speak. But, he couldn't win the fight this time. He died last Thursday at age 70. The day before, he wrote on his blog that his cancer came back and decided to take indefinite break from reviewing to treat his health.
To me, Ebert was to film criticism, the way baseball way to hot dogs. On television, he along with his rivals/pals in reviewing, the late Gene Siskel and most recently, Richard Roeper, talked about which films is worth the ticket and which ones that are not worthy of a night out at a theater. They were like dueling teachers of filmmaking, and the filmgoers watching them on television were their students. The movie theater set was their classroom and we were invited to join them. They weren't from New York or Los Angeles. They were from midwestern, windy Chicago, Illinois. They were high caliber, intelligent and smart film critics from Mid America telling the whole country which film is the one worth seeing. Sure, they had separate opinions on some films, but they were proud film critics. Most other film critics on TV didn't match the powerful touch that Ebert, Siskel and Roeper had. Sneak Previews, At The Movies, Siskel & Ebert, and Ebert & Roeper was like a TV school about learning how to make a movie good while asking the person is it worth seeing.
Now, today, film and theatre criticism on television is rarely an art nowadays. The only stations with film critics is NY1 (Neil Rosen), Ch.7 (Sandy Kenyon) and Chs. 5 and 9 (Pat Collins). Ch. 4's former film and theatre critic (1996-2009) Jeffrey Lyons lamented last month in the Daily News that viewers are suffering from the lack of arts critics on the local news. Lyons said that "stations should do whatever they can to get people to make them (film reviews) their main source of film again". I agree with Lyons that we must have film and theatre critics back on television to tell the viewer which film or play is worth watching, instead of telling them what's happening in the world of gossip. Maybe Chs. 2,4 and 11 should start thinking about hiring experienced film and theatre critics to help bring back the art. Plus, I think that Ch.7 should start having Kenyon review Broadway shows on opening nights, instead of just seeing films.
Ebert's final words on his final blog was, "I'll see you at the movies". Well, to all the lovers of film and to film critics, past, present and future, he was always at the movies and he will always be in our hearts. Adios, pal. We'll all miss you, Roger.
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