One of the great things about being in the States and having a totally buggered body-clock is that I've been able to watch late-night chat shows as they happen.

Yes, I know we get Letterman and a handful of others in Australia (may Conan rest in peace), but there are a bunch here I've only heard filtered down talk about.

Namely, that George Lopez's Lopez Tonight is great, and that Late Night With Jimmy Fallon isn't.

In the spirit of people saying "American food is bad and expensive" and then finding the opposite to be exactly true, it appears that those same people may be in charge of the international relations for late-night talk shows.

I watched Lopez Tonight because there was a chance I might be on it (interviewed at Comic-Con), and while Lopez himself is quite charming, the tone of the show wasn't - particularly the SDCC coverage, which effectively took the shape of "Gee whiz, get a load of these fat weirdos!"

(It's probably fortunate I didn't make it to air as I dread to think what he and his writers would have made of my Catra costume. Minced Whiskas, I imagine.)

Jimmy Fallon, on the other hand, was known to me only really from his SNL back catalogue, exemplary hosting of an American Music Awards show some many moons ago, the book he wrote with his sister - I Hate This Place: The Pessimist's Guide To Life - and, natch, his fine work in Almost Famous:



Imagine my "surprise", then (I don't know why I just used that phrase, as it wasn't really a surprise by anyone's standards), when I found Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to be far from the snorefest most described it as and instead an absolute hoot.

Sure, there were moments where his nervy nature swamped what might have been some interesting breathing space in his interviews, but for the most part I found the show charming.

Plus he got Kevin Kline to play piano with the Roots. They started with Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, which then turned into The Doobie Brothers' Takin' It To The Streets, and Jimmy did a spot-on Michael McDonald impression to go with it.

Unfortunately it's not embeddable (and likely not watchable down on Prisoner Island), but you know what is?

THIS CLIP OF SAM ROCKWELL AND JIMMY DANCING ON THE SHOW:



THAT'S RIGHT

So, when I come back to Australia next week, there are two things I know I'll miss: cheap, delicious food, and cheap, delicious Jimmy Fallon.