Jimmy Fallon to take Conan’s job?
By fred | July 30, 2007
We all know Jay Leno will retire in 2009, well, or so he should. NBC announced early on that Conan O’Brien would then take his place on the Tonight Show, so then, who will take Conan’s spot?
Many names have been rumored over time, one of them being Jimmy Fallon, who even told Howard Stern several months ago he had signed a development deal with NBC, and that taking over Late Night might just be the gig he would get out of it.
And this just got closer to a done deal.
NBC late-night chief Rick Ludwin said there wouldn’t probably be any announcement until sometime after the first of the year, but he confirmed nonetheless that Fallon was indeed the choice favored by the network. “I think he’d be terrific, and he is at the top of our short list.”
I personally think Conan is the best of all late night show/host right now, I love his show, and I am very curious at how he’ll manage within the new setup of the Tonight Show, which has a quite different tone to it.
As much as I love it, Conan’s current show might definitely not be suited for the earlier spot and the different audience that’s watching it. It would be a real challenge, but taking over Letterman wasn’t a done deal at first either, far from it.
I would say that, indeed, Fallon seems like a pretty good fit to follow Conan on Late Night, and those familiar with NBC’s thinking say the network believes that Fallon following Conan would make a very compatible two-hour block, and it sure sounds like it could.
Fallon’s old “Weekend Update” co-host Tina Fey also recently shared the idea that he’d be an ideal fit for the job. “I think it’s a great idea. He’s really funny and loves to talk to people; it must be that Irish charm. Hosting a talk show is so hard, having to do the comedy and the interview skills, but I actually think he’s really well suited for it.”
Another question about both future Tonight Show and Late Night is to know where they will be shot. For now Leno is in L.A., allowing better/easier booking of Hollywood guests, but there are people interesting in moving the Tonight Show back to New York, where it began.
So Conan taking over Leno might not necessary go with him moving to California, the issue is still being discussed.
Ludwin said NBC should announce its plans by next May’s upfront presentation, in New York.
Many wonder if Leno will actually leave the Tonight Show, but chances are he’ll leave. NBC wants to keep Conan, and it would cost them at least $45 million to back out on Conan’s deal! Besides, all of NBC, Conan and Leno have already commented on the deal.
But then Leno would probably not retire and find its way to another network, as many don’t see him sticking around for less than the Tonight Show.
Would NBC change their mind anyway and keep Leno in, a much richer Conan would then likely head to ABC, who’d love to have their own late night show.
Either way, another nice news all of this is Carson Daly. Despite having made it known really, really, really loudly that he wanted the gig, he was rightfully ignored by NBC. See, and you thought Carson Daly couldn’t make you smile… there you go!
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