Jimmy Fallon Charms Jimmy Fallon, Some Critics

After 10 long months, America finally got the answer to the question we've all been asking last night: How far into his first episode hosting Late Night would Jimmy Fallon make it before laughing at one of his own jokes?

The answer: 4 minutes, 31 seconds, or almost exactly two minutes after the start of his monologue. But maybe that's being unfair. The laugh at 4:31 appears to be an "I can't believe I just told a joke that bad" nervous laugh rather than a more classically Fallon-esque "Aren't I a clever Dickens?" laugh. The first example of latter doesn't arrive until, by my watch, some 46 seconds later. Here's the opening sketch and monologue:

The reviews have been trickling out, and, while most critics are careful to note that it's too early to pass judgment -- Conan O'Brien was widely dismissed as a flop after his first shaky outing -- the consensus seems to be that Fallon squeaked by with a passing grade.

Tom Shales, Washington Post: "It didn't seem to have attitude, direction or an identifiable style -- a newborn already suffering an identity crisis.... O'Brien's first week as host of Late Night is commonly described as 'rocky,' and yet when he and his gang burst onto the air in 1993, they were armed with many more novel ideas than Fallon and company unveiled in their debut late Monday night."

James Poniewozik, Time: "I'm not sure he's best utilized in an arch, hyperironic Letterman-style show. What Fallon exudes most as a host is earnestness. He has this emo, Ted Mosby-like quality to him. He's really into you, America; he thinks you're awesome, he wants you to like him, and he isn't embarrassed about showing it."

Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times: "It was not a bad beginning, in spite of offering notoriously poor interview Robert De Niro as the first guest. (Fallon had prepared a list of questions that could be answered in a word, but the comic effect was negligible, and the interview was in fact poor)....In Fallon's defense, if he needs one, this is a form that develops in the fullness of time, as chances are taken and limits tested and you learn the things you can learn only in the doing, night after night after midnight."

Michael Starr, New York Post: "[I]f Jimmy Fallon's inaugural Late Night show was any indication, he's already found his groove. Jitters? A few. But, by and large, they didn't hamper a successful launch. That's because last night's opener was slickly executed, was largely devoid of the usual opening-night hiccups and, above all, was funny and entertaining."