Fallon fuels guest-grab frenzy

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This article was published 26/02/2009 (6425 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Late-night TV’s guest-booking battle seems headed for a boil-over as competing networks scramble to attract viewers during Jimmy Fallon’s first week as host of NBC’s post-Conan Late Night franchise.

The head-to-head competition, of course, is between Fallon’s fledgling chatfest and CBS’s The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Fallon’s producers seem determined to grab an audience on Monday, having booked A-list actor Robert DeNiro, pop god Justin Timberlake and temperamental music legend Van Morrison for their opening-night onslaught.

Ferguson, who has long since established himself as one of the most thoughtful chatterboxes in after-hours TV history, counters with the VERY mismatched pairing of Paris Hilton and former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers (jeepers, that’ll be two very different conversations, won’t it?).

On Tuesday, Fallon’s got Tina Fey, Jon Bon Jovi and Santigold; Ferguson will sit opposite Kristin Davis and Wolfgang Puck.

Wednesday’s lineup sees Cameron Diaz, Billy Crudup and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah on Fallon, and (for those seeking a rather more thoughtful confab) Bishop Desmond Tutu on Ferguson; on Thursday, Fallon’s lineup of Donald Trump, Serena Williams and Ludacris is countered by Ferguson’s Holly Hunter/Andrew Bird pairing; and on Friday, Fallon welcomes Drew Barrymore, Chace Crawford and Mario Batali while Ferguson plays host to Amy Adams, Ed McMahon and M. Ward.

Over at ABC, not-quite-head-to-head competitor Jimmy Kimmel’s guest roster includes Evangeline Lilly and Bachelor dude Jason Mesnick (Monday), Bonnie Hunt and Nathan Fillion (Wednesday) and Dustin Hoffman (Friday).

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The two 11:35 p.m. shows’ lead-ins, Leno and Letterman, have solid guest lists for the entire week, too. But it’s interesting to note that Letterman — whose Worldwide Pants produces Ferguson’s show and therefore has a vested interest in heading Fallon off at the pass — has reserved the ever-popular final-five-minutes musical-guest slot on his program for U2, which will make an unprecedented five-night stand on The Late Show and will inevitably provide Ferguson with the strongest lead-in he’s had since taking over The Late Late Show in 2005.

So here’s my question: Where will you be on Monday night — Fallon, Ferguson, flipping furiously between, or far, far away from both?