A new era in late night begins when "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (NBC, weeknights, 12:35 a.m) begins. Can the former "Saturday Night Live" star fill the shoes of Conan O'Brien, who has jumped to the West Coast to prepare takeover of the "Tonight" show in June? More to the point, can he beat "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (ABC, 12:05 a.m.) or "The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (CBS, 12:35 a.m.) in that time slot?
With the Roots as house band, Lorne Michaels producing and a first night guest roster of Robert DeNiro, Justin TImberlake and Van Morrison, he certainly has some tools working in his favor.
But other talk shows are getting ready for battle. The host who had to leave the "Late Night" title behind is bringing U2 on for performances each night on "Late Show with David Letterman" (CBS,11:35 p.m.), something he's never done before. Along the same lines, Craig Ferguson has booked Paris Hilton for an extended interview on "The Late, Late Show" (CBS, 12:35 a.m., except in Hartford where it's on at 1:05 a.m., after a rerun of "Entertainment Tonight").
The odd conceit of "The Bachelor" (ABC, 8 p.m.) is that the guy in question is equally attracted to all the women currently inn the game, until he has to eliminate them. By now, though, Jason Mesnick must have an inkling of whether he'll go for one of his two finalists Molly or Melissa, but has to spend most of two hours pretending (for the women and the cameras) that each has an equal chance. Things are muddled by the fact that DeAnna Pappas, who rejected him on the last edition of "The Bachelorette" finally comes back to talk to him (after a season of teasing the scene). And in the end Mesnick may not choose either finalist (which was Deanna's fate and how she became "The Bachelorette."
