Jimmy Fallon gets superheroes, ‘SNL’-ers to play musical beers

Jimmy Fallon’s gradual frat-housing of “The Tonight Show” continued apace Thursday night when he recruited Hugh Jackman (a.k.a. Wolverine), Chris Hemsworth (a.k.a. Thor) and “Saturday Night Live” cast members Colin Jost, Kate McKinnon and Bobby Moynihan to join him in a game of musical beers.

The game is exactly as you’d imagine. Questlove plays the music, the stars circle the table with red Solo cups of beer placed at strategic locations. When the music stops, everyone drinks. The odd man (or woman) out is out of the game.

As with most impromptu games played by celebrities just hoping you’ll go see their next project, the game was played halfheartedly by most of the participants, with Hemsworth offering to bow out over Jackman at one point. But they continued to play and eventually there was a winner.

And, yes, the winner was Fallon himself. Like the kid who invites everyone over to his house to play the games he knows he’ll win.

The current iteration of “The Tonight Show” is now resting somewhere between the sterile plug-a-thons of the Jay Leno era and the mid-’70s Carson shows, where the likes of Doc Severinsen were visibly “relaxed” on the air.

But there wasn’t enough beer consumed -- on camera at least -- for things to get really interesting. Such as getting Jackman to open up about how he really feels about Wolverine.

Still, the vicarious thrills of televised activities like this are limited. At midnight, the only way for the home viewer to really participate is to be sitting alone. Drinking. No matter when the music stops, they’ll always have a beer. And no Hugh Jackman in a mullet wig to spruce things up.

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