Jimmy Fallon Is the ChatGPT of Talk Show Hosts

He's not just an obsequious kiss-ass. He's actively making the world worse than it already is.

NBC

Much has been said about what late-night television has lost—and risks losing more of—with the looming cancellation of CBS’ Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the attempted muzzling of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, and our general slide toward a popular culture defined by AI slop and IP necrophilia. If you’re not up to speed and short on time, I’ll spare you the details, but the broad takeaway here is that it’s all pretty bad.

Throughout the turbulence of this past year, however, there’s been one late-night host who’s successfully avoided any hint of controversy—or, for that matter, critical thinking. One host who, after decades on television, has never evolved to offer anything beyond the manic energy of a kid about to barf from eating too many Sour Skittles. Sure, his mouth may be smiling, but look into his eyes, and you’ll see the soul of someone who knows—really deep down knows—that they’re only good for spewing brightly colored bile. Someone who can’t actually offer anything of value to justify the aggressively saccharine frivolity he’s become known for.

Folks, I’m talking about The Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon. And after hosting one of the absolute dumbest segments in talk show history last night, I’m beginning to think we need to start thinking of Fallon less as a broadcaster and more as a reflector: someone whose absolute upper limit of creativity is merely regurgitating whatever prompt or question they’ve been fed with embarrassingly diminishing returns. In other words, he’s exactly like ChatGPT.