Late Night with the H-Bomb

Every once in a while i cruise through the television schedule to see if anyone interesting will be on the late night circuit (Leno, Letterman, Fallon, etc) and then i set the DVR to record to whatever catches my fancy. (ahhh, that crazy Fancy. So elusive that few things can ever catch it. And what is done with the Fancy once it is caught? NO IDEA. But it somehow manages to escape every time. Good old Fancy. Elusive like a fox.) Right now i'm watching last night's Letterman, which i recorded because it said Tom Hanks and The Killers would be on. i figured that was a pretty good lineup and David Letterman is my 3rd favorite late night host.

So now i'm watching and i just keep thinking 'DEAR GOD, HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE I SAW TOM HANKS?? AND HOW HAVE I LIVED WITHOUT HIM ALL THIS TIME???' A quick imdb search verifies that the most recent Tom Hanks movie i've seen was The Terminal, which was in 2004. Granted, i've caught bits of Cast Away and Philadelphia on tv now and then, but i haven't seen The DaVinci Code or Charlie Wilson's War, his most recent big-time projects. Now Angels & Demons is coming out so he's peddling it around. Maybe it was fatigue, maybe delirium from only leaving the 4 walls of our home office twice in 10 hours, maybe he's actually Beelzebub and has evil powers of influence, but as soon as Tom Hanks started palling around with Dave, i felt like everything in the world would be okay. The recession, the war, the environment, etc. It would all be resolved or something or other...i'm not sure how, but having Tom Hanks around will make it okay. Here's what's odd about this whole burst of Hanks-love: i was never exactly over the moon for the guy in the first place. i think Forrest Gump was wildly overrated. i mean, sure, i liked him and thought he was a fun actor to watch, but i always thought he was just a glorified Everyman. Now i know: HE IS A GLORIOUS EVERYMAN. i have officially added him to the esteemed list of 'People I Would Pay To Listen To While They Read The Phone Book Or Something Equally Boring Like The Stimulus Package Paperwork Or Maybe Something Really Lame Like 'Twilight', Yeah, I Said It'. (other dignitaries include Eartha Kitt and Harry Shearer) i can't really explain it, but charisma and familiarity came together and i experienced a renewed affection for America's Favorite.

Also, since we're talking about Late Night telly, how great is Jimmy Fallon? The answer is 'really great!' His time on SNL was fun, but not exceptional. The talk show is his true vehicle. His boyish enthusiasm makes for authentic affection between the host and his guests. And i love Max Weinberg as much as the next person, but Fallon has The Roots doing his music. THE ROOTS! He must have sold his soul to Tom Hanks for that privilege. Good times.