First impressions of the new Late Night With Jimmy Fallon:

His curtain backdrop screams Tonight Show, specifically Johnny Carson's version. For someone whose strength is appearing boyish and and loose, it seemed excessively formal, if not presumptuous.

He came across as jumpy in his monologue, although that's part of Fallon's typical performing style (example: his Weekend Update work on Saturday Night Live). Will it go over at 12:30, where the detachment of Dave, the sparkling wit of Craig, and the Harvard Lampoon surrealism of Conan has held sway? Hard to say.

Of the three big set pieces/potential recurring bits in the premiere, the salute to the night's demographic ("blonde mothers from Connecticut") and the segment where audience members were invited to lick unpleasant things for $10, were lame and embarrassing, respectively. "Slow Jammin' the News" with house band The Roots might have some potential, if the writing is up to par.

Robert DeNiro as a first guest might seem a little odd at first, since the man isn't known as the world's most forthcoming interview subject. The show tried to get around this by attempting to turn his one-word answers into a running joke, but to little avail. Justin Timberlake, whose comedic skills are being wasted while he hobnobs with the likes of Madonna, did help to liven things up later, if anyone was still around at 1:20.

So no train wreck, but Fallon will eventually need to find some elements that will make him stand out. A little informality and some of O'Brien's and Letterman's eagerness to mess with talk show tropes might be called for. Conan showed up in the night's first bit, cleaning out his office and reminding Fallon that things were pretty hard for him at first too. But patience is in much shorter supply in 2009.

Check back at the end of the week for a more in-depth appraisal of the new Late Night.

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