What a difference a weekend makes! After suffering through a clear bout of creative exhaustion and drowning his sorrows in Ping-Pong–flavored beer at the close of last week, Jimmy Fallon launched into his second week as host of Late Night with a refreshed sense of energy and purpose and, along the way, turned in the best show of his young career. While the pressure of fielding so many big-name guests took its toll on Fallon last week, he seemed far more at ease riffing with last night’s decidedly more B-list lineup of Amanda Peet (who, we had forgotten, always proves to be a great interview), Damages star Rose Byrne, and geek hero and Engadget editor Joshua Topolsky. And although his monologue still needs some significant work, it showed some signs of improvement last night; he even proved his heretofore unknown willingness to push the envelope by mixing in the first Chris Brown–Rihanna joke that we’ve heard on late-night network TV (it involved a punch line revolving around Oprah Winfrey’s familiarity with “Big Mac Attacks”). Oh yeah, did we mention how great Amanda Peet was?
It’s been a long time since we’ve laid eyes on Miss Peet (Studio 60, anyone?), but it’s good to hear that she’s back with not one, not two, but THREE new movies this year. This “Fun With Green Screen”–type clip reminded us of Peet’s strong comedic chops and also had us wishing she can find a project that will allow her to demonstrate said chops.