Reports of Jimmy Fallon’s death are greatly exaggerated. After a day of #RIPJimmyFallon trending on Elon Musk’s Twitter dot com, Fallon opened The Tonight Show with a tent revival-esque celebration of his non-death. Or maybe he did die but came back? The song is unclear. Tariq Trotter joined a gospel choir, singing the praises of the late-night Jim who was last to grow a beard. He’s alive!
Yesterday, Fallon tweeted at Musk about the situation, asking “Elon, can you fix this? #RIPJimmyFallon.†To which Musk replied “Fix what?†Doubling down on the replies, which is always a sign a bit is landing well, Musk tweeted, “Wait a second, how do we know you’re not an alien body snatcher pretending to be Jimmy!? Say something that only the real Jimmy would say …†Comedy is legal, but is it any good?
Later in the show, Fallon compared the two times he’s been trending as a dead guy. Ten years ago, everyone checked up on him: Lorne Michaels, his family, and his reps at CAA. This time? Crickets. “I didn’t hear anything from Timberlake,†he said. “I expect flowers, tomorrow.â€