Thank You, Jimmy Fallon, for Your Thank You Notes Books [Kicking Back with Jersey Joe]

Thank you, Jimmy Fallon, for turning one of your signature bits into a series of hilarious books.  Thank you, also, Jimmy Fallon, for allowing your newest book to play music!

Late night talk shows have been a big television network battleground for ratings and advertising dollars since Tonight! starring Steve Allen began airing on NBC on September 27, 1954. Once Johnny Carson took over as host, he cemented the late night talk format and all of the networks, looking for extra advertising cash got into the game.

After a whirlwind of host shuffling, and numerous mistakes by NBC, they did one thing right, and on March 2, 2009 Jimmy Fallon was hired as host of Late Night.

It would take a few months, but Fallon made the show his own by banking on his sketch comedy experience and creating a different vibe from previous hosts.  Some of Jimmy’s signature bits include Celebrity Whispers, Models and Buckets, Slow Jamming the News, Cell Phone Shootout, Spin That Wheel of Carpet Samples and a ton more.

Jimmy will also often invite guests to participate in sketches (such as 80’s dating shows or acting without hands) and his crew members have made several reality series parodies such as Jersey Floor and The Real Housewives of Late Night.

The show also broke the television talk show mold by making frequent use of social media and the internet.  An entire team of bloggers are devoted to his website and interacting with fans online.  On the set, Jimmy has a Mac computer on his desk and plays weekly hash tag games on Twitter, where he will actually read viewer posts to a funny topic he Tweets earlier in the day.  Even before the show launched fans had the opportunity to choose on the new series logo in an online vote.

All of this has made Fallon “Must See TV” each night and the ratings have begun to show it.  He recently scored a special sit down interview with President Obama.  He even got the president to participate in a sketch!

To capitalize on the show’s popularity, a free Late Night app has been released for both iPhone and Android smart phones.  The app contains a few of the show’s older comedy bits including Bieber Yourself (where you can put Justin Bieber’s old hairdo on your friends) and Axel Rose Relaxation Tapes.  Ben & Jerry’s ice cream produces a Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night Snack flavor, which I wrote about in a previous blogumn.  He recently released a second album, Blow Your Pants Off, featuring music performances and skits from the show.

But it’s not just all food and games.  Two books have been published to tie-in another of the show’s signature bits… Thank You Notes.

In the Thank You Note sketch, that appears every Friday night, Jimmy is accompanied by a soothing piano music bed. He will write hilarious thank you cards to just about everyone and anything. He’s thanked everything from aluminum foil to famous actors.  A fun part of the segment is the banter between Jimmy and his announcer/sidekick, Steve Higgins.

Some of the bits that have aired include:

“Thank you, people who say, ‘I love taking baths,’ for basically saying, ‘I love humans who relax in dirt soup.”

“Thank you, moss.  For being toupees for rocks.”

“Thank you, Miley Cyrus for announcing that you’re getting married.  Wow, you’re growing up so fast.  Before you know it, your dad will be moving out of your house.”

“Thank you, sweatbands, for basically telling your eyebrows they’re not getting the job done.”

“Thank you, jail for being time outs for adults.”

“Thank you, crowded trains, for allowing me to judge my level of creepiness by how long the seat next to me remains vacant.”

The first Thank You Notes book went on sale in 2011 and very quickly became a best seller.  So, what do you when you have a hit on your hands?  You capitalize on it with a second book, Thank You Notes 2, went on sale on May 22. 2012.  Several thousand special editions also feature a musical chip that will play the same soothing piano music as you flip through the colorful pages allowing readers to create a Thank You Notes segment of your own! Look for the special button behind the front cover that, once pressed, activates the music chip.

The highly colorful and hilarious books feature some of the notes read on the show, and include some that have never been seen.  These books are certainly a light read and you will get through the whole thing in just a few sessions, all while giving your funny bone a workout!

It all started off as a segment of the show, turned into a best selling book, and now a sequel.  Hopefully, if this second version is also a best seller, a third installment won’t be far behind!

THE 411

Title: Jimmy Fallon’s Thank You Notes
What: two book series based on a recurring sketch from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Website: www.nbc.com/latenight

JERSEY JOE RECOMMENDS:

These are really funny books, from a really funny segment, of a really funny show.  I even gave away one of these as a birthday gift!  Adding the special chip that plays the background music sends the second book over the top.  You really get the feeling that you have part of the show in your hands.

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is absolutely must see viewing for me.  I love the skits, I love the games and the interviews are well done.  For me, it’s Letterman at 11:35 on CBS and then I flip over to Fallon on NBC.  His Saved By the Bell cast reunion is what got me watching!

You can also check out free almost daily Thank You Notes on a special Facebook page that you can access by clicking here.

Image Credits: Daniel Semper, stevegarfield, & JoshMcConnell