Well, there’s big news on the late-night front: According to a source for The Hollywood Reporter, Jimmy Fallon is going to take over “The Tonight Show” from Jay Leno.
The rumors have been out for weeks, but NBC had hesitated to make an official statement on it. But now, according to a source for The Hollywood Reporter, Fallon will officially be the host of “The Tonight Show” and NBC executives might launch the New York version of “The Tonight Show” during NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage. However, Lorne Michaels is reported to have said that Fallon should be given more time. There’s also the fact that NBC would owe Leno if the network decided to end his run before his contract expired.
So who’s going to take over “Late Night”? Well, it might be Fallon’s former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Seth Meyers. A source said that “It will be Seth unless something goes awry [in the dealmaking].”
Leno recently did a funny “West Side Story” spoof with Fallon making fun of the replacement rumors. However, it seems like the situation is becoming less “funny” and more serious for Leno’s future. I’ve said this before, but after all the Conan/Leno craziness, it seems to me like some sort of karma has come back around.
You can read more about this at The Hollywood Reporter.