Newly minted “Late Night” host Seth Meyers hit a few early potholes during his inaugural show Monday night — but eventually found his sea legs and drove his new 12:35 p.m. show to a solid, if unspectacular, debut.
The “Saturday Night Live” veteran, who inherited “Late Night” from his “SNL” colleague — “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon, just down the hall at 30 Rock — chose to open his 12:35 a.m. career with a late-night staple. “I’m gonna shake stuff up and open this thing with a monologue,” he joked. He scored a few bulls eyes — “The brassiere turns 100 years old this week. And so does everyone who still calls it a brassiere” — but too many of his jokes fell flat. No worries; Meyers saved himself (and everyone else) from embarrassment with his self-deprecating demeanor, reminding me of the way in which Johnny Carson knew his jokes were falling flat and reveled in the good-natured groans of his audience. So kudos to Meyers for picking up the slack, tongue planted firmly in cheek.
“Our first sorta bomb,” he said of one joke about UPS. Meyers was in on the joke, we knew that, and it was OK. Call it late-night hipness. He’ll get better as “Late Night” progresses (or maybe he’ll just chuck the monologue altogether).
Meyers’ choice of fellow former “SNL”er (and “Portlandia” star) Fred Armisen to lead his band paid immediate dividends, the late-night sketch-comedy vets engaging in the kind of comfortable banter you hear between old friends. Their relationship holds a lot of promise for future skits.
Meyers and his staff will learn how to pace the show better with time; a sketch called “Venn Diagrams” went on too long and was only intermittently funny, as was a skit about Olympic ice-skating commentators weighing in on other sports.
Meyers seemed to really relax and hit his stride once he got the monologue (and a tedious story about watching a AAA guy change his flat tire) out of the way, hunkered down behind his desk and welcomed his first guest, another “SNL” pal, Amy Poehler. She, too, did a cute bit with Armisen, pretending to be his spurned girlfriend — “It’s hard to be friends when you’ve been very turbulent lovers” — which took some pressure off of Meyers who was content to sit back and watch his pals interact in a loosey-goosey atmosphere. At 12:35 a.m., anything goes.
Meyers also welcomed Vice President Joe Biden, who did a cameo on Poehler’s “Parks and Recreation” and played along with Poehler’s jokes — though leading questions about Biden’s love of trains turned into a platform for the Veep to transform back into a boring politician, talking about funding for high-speed rail lines.
These are very small nits to pick, and Meyers will be fine. He’s charming with a certain “aw shucks” demeanor that doesn’t seem forced or contrived and he’ll have plenty of time to grow into his new role as a late-night host.
Welcome aboard.