Jimmy Fallon to replace Conan O'Brien?

[DudleyGarrett]

I don't have a link I just saw it on CNN. Apparently when Conan replaces Leno next year, Fallon's going to take over.

You've got to be shitting me.

So, what's the over-under here on how long it's going to last?

I've got 2 months.

[I'm No Saint]

Oh....

oh my.....

That's just awful.

[Wee Bairn]

I liked him on SNL when he wasn't breaking character, but in the five years since he's been off SNL he's done the movies Fever Pitch and Taxi and not much else. Hardly the resume you want for a show like that, but its not like they can't can him in five months if the show doesn't do well, and hell he's a lot more funny and talented than Carson Daly who's managed to hold his talk show job for years, so who knows.

[borschevsky]

Yeah, it doesn't really seem like a good match, but he's certainly got more on-camera experience than Conan himself had when he started.

[Marley23]

This had been rumored for a while.Here's the CNN story. (http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/25/tv.fallon.latenight.ap/index.html)

I like Conan, but his show is on too late for me these days. But I wouldn't watch Fallon even if my hours were different.

[Gangster Octopus]

Fallon was also in Almost Famous. I remember him once hosting the MTV Movie or Music awards. I thought he did a good job. But really it's hard to say if he'll be any good as a talk show host. I'd give him a chance.

[DudleyGarrett]

Fallon was also in Almost Famous. I remember him once hosting the MTV Movie or Music awards. I thought he did a good job. But really it's hard to say if he'll be any good as a talk show host. I'd give him a chance.

He was on SNL for a few years and he single-handedly ruined almost every skit he was in due to constantly laughing. Even in one of the best skits in SNL history ("More Cowbell"), he could be seen laughing in the background.

And let's not get into Fever Pitch.

[Rattlehead02]

He also had a very small part in Band of Brothers!

I bring nothing to the table, my apologies :(

[Dr. Rieux]

And the downward spiral continues...

[Drain Bead]

I don't have a link I just saw it on CNN. Apparently when Conan replaces Leno next year, Fallon's going to take over.

You've got to be shitting me.

So, what's the over-under here on how long it's going to last?

I've got 2 months.

Not that I disagree with you, but wasn't that about how long they gave Conan when he started?

[DudleyGarrett]

Not that I disagree with you, but wasn't that about how long they gave Conan when he started?

Maybe, but the difference is that Conan O'Brien was virtually unknown when he started. He also began his run amid a ton of failed late-night talk shows.

We know Jimmy Fallon.

[Thudlow Boink]

I think Late Night ought to promote from within: give the Gaseous Wiener or Preparation H Raymond a shot at replacing Conan!

[woodstockbirdybird]

I think Late Night ought to promote from within: give the Gaseous Wiener or Preparation H Raymond a shot at replacing Conan!

Yeah, the Preparation H Raymond guy would be great, but he'd be too off-putting for about 85% of the public - kinda like giving Chris Elliott a talk show in the early 90s.

[Kozmik]

I don't have a link I just saw it on CNN. Apparently when Conan replaces Leno next year, Fallon's going to take over.When will the madness end??!!!

[Omniscient]

Wow. Network executives once again prove that they have absolutely no idea what the viewing public think.

[ToeJam]

THANK GOD!
It's not Carson Daily! I'll give Fallon a chance at least.

[slanted zipper]

Could work only if did only singing (hes good with doing Weird Al stuff iwth songs that he changes the lyrics to and isn't a bad singer) and let the guests do All the talking.

[Oslo Ostragoth]

6 months?

[Hippy Hollow]

Well, there's that whole meme that everybody thought NBC was nuts when they hired Conan O'Brien... and that turned out pretty well. Of course, he was a writer for some time before he graced our screens.

Jimmy Fallon... he essentially was trying to be the Adam Sandler of the early 00s. Trouble was, Adam Sandler was funny, while Fallon was not. His breaking character during every freakin' skit got old, and both he and Horatio Sanz have received their just due in their post-SNL careers.

I predict Fallon will either be a new guy altogether and shock the hell out of us, or he'll be out on his ass in a few months. If I was a betting guy I'd say he'll be off the air in months. Craig Ferguson and Jimmy Kimmel will eat his lunch, pretty much.

[Eric Halfabee]

Wow. Network executives once again prove that they have absolutely no idea what the viewing public think.


All too true. When I read this, I though Fox had taken over Late Night.

[WarmNPrickly]

Adam Sandler was funny, while Fallon was not.

To each his own of course, but I found Adam Sandler insulted my intelligence. I don't have feelings one way or another about Fallon. I think Fallon could do it, I don't think Adam Sandler could.

[kittenblue]

I'm one of those who thought Conan would be gone in 2 months...to this day I still don't see the appeal. But what I want to know is...where is Leno going? He's way too young to be retiring....

[Dignan]

The good news is that I don't usually stay up that late anymore, and when I do, I don't usually watch Late Night. Fallon is not funny. Conan seemed to have somewhat of a track record as a writer (The Simpsons), and was still very bad when he started. Will NBC have the same amount of patience with Fallon?

There's been talk about Leno not being ready to retire, and possibly taking the 11:30 eastern spot at another network.

[middleman]

I read that Sony was willing to offer Leno a TON for a syndicated late night show that would likely try to target FOX or WB/UPN affiliates.

When the O'Brien deal was announced YEARS ago, it was thought Jay would do what was essentially a live version of a late night show in a Celine Dion esque theater in Vegas.

Of course, when this deal was signed, everyone thought Leno would be getting weaker ratings. He kind of screwed up the calculus by remaining on top. They could keep him around, but Conan has a pay or play option for like 50 million!

As per the OP, Fallon is indeed terrible.

[mshar253]

He was on SNL for a few years and he single-handedly ruined almost every skit he was in due to constantly laughing. Even in one of the best skits in SNL history ("More Cowbell"), he could be seen laughing in the background.

And let's not get into Fever Pitch.

Um, I thought Fever Pitch was one of the best romantic comedies I've ever seen.

[kittenblue]

I read that Sony was willing to offer Leno a TON for a syndicated late night show that would likely try to target FOX or WB/UPN affiliates.

When the O'Brien deal was announced YEARS ago, it was thought Jay would do what was essentially a live version of a late night show in a Celine Dion esque theater in Vegas.

Of course, when this deal was signed, everyone thought Leno would be getting weaker ratings. He kind of screwed up the calculus by remaining on top. They could keep him around, but Conan has a pay or play option for like 50 million!

As per the OP, Fallon is indeed terrible. I'm sorry, I must be especially stupid tonight...did Leno agree to this years ago? Why doesn't he have a pay or play deal? Did Leno think he'd be washed up by now? I can't imagine Leno agreeing to be replaced ...how come Conan got such a great deal, and Leno is getting kicked out of his job? Don't we get a say in this?

[Thudlow Boink]

I predict Fallon will either be a new guy altogether and shock the hell out of us, or he'll be out on his ass in a few months. If I was a betting guy I'd say he'll be off the air in months. Craig Ferguson and Jimmy Kimmel will eat his lunch, pretty much.And in that case we can call him Jimmy Fallon Hisass.

[Kozmik]

Wow. Network executives once again prove that they have absolutely no idea what the viewing public think.Well, they're not omniscient.

[Eric Halfabee]

Well, they're not omniscient.

Thay aren't any-niscient.

About 99.99% of TV programmers are idiots.

[Justin_Bailey]

I'm sorry, I must be especially stupid tonight...did Leno agree to this years ago? Why doesn't he have a pay or play deal? Did Leno think he'd be washed up by now? I can't imagine Leno agreeing to be replaced ...how come Conan got such a great deal, and Leno is getting kicked out of his job? Don't we get a say in this?

Leno doesn't have to agree to anything. His contract expires in 2009 and rather than try to resign him, years ago, NBC signed a contract with Conan that he would take over The Tonight Show in 2009.

[Sam Stone]

I'm sorry, I must be especially stupid tonight...did Leno agree to this years ago? Why doesn't he have a pay or play deal? Did Leno think he'd be washed up by now? I can't imagine Leno agreeing to be replaced ...how come Conan got such a great deal, and Leno is getting kicked out of his job? Don't we get a say in this?

When Conan's contract was up last time, the network was worried that he would leave and go to 11:30 on another network, like Letterman did. His star was rising - he was hosting awards shows, getting special in prime time, and had all the mojo. So the worry was that he'd go somewhere like Fox, and take Leno's audience. And they'd have no 12:30 replacement for Conan's job, so the network would get screwed twice.

So, to keep him around, they looked at Leno's contract, and decided to offer Conan the Tonight Show when Leno's contract was up, as a condition of staying. Leno didn't actually like this, and was apparently quite hurt by it. Being a good employee, and having nothing against Conan, he's sort of sucked it up and not made waves, but he also let it be known that this was not his choice and that he had no plans for retirement.

Of course, now they face possibly the same problem - Conan goes to 11:30, a disgruntled Leno goes to another network and his audience follows him, and the guy chosen to replace Conan flops (if he does). I'll bet NBC is very worried right about now, because their late-night talk shows are a real cash cow.

As for what Leno will do, well.... He's a workaholic and already has multiple other projects on the go. He still does standup. He writes a column for Popular Mechanics. He spends a tremendous amount of time with his cars - his collection and warehouse/shop is big enough to be a museum, and it looks like one. He has a web site, Jay Leno's Garage (http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/). That's really a world-class website with a ton of great content on it, including a whole lot of videos starring Jay himself. He's also done car specials on Discovery or a channel like that.

My guess as to what Leno will do will be more stuff with his cars and technology. You could see a weekly show on Discovery or TLC, more web stuff, more articles for magazines, maybe he'll actually turn his collection into a museum or something. And I'm sure he'll do standup tours and videos like Seinfeld. So don't cry for Jay - he'll be a busy guy.

[Cardinal]

So was Leno just basically lying when he said on-air that he'd promised his wife that he wouldn't spend their older age running all over and being away from her? That was his story when the story was announced.

I suspect that for someone like he, with 30+ years of constantly working hard, it would be very boring to stop.

I wonder what a casino in Las Vegas would pay him to do an hour standup/interview/sketch show. He wouldn't even have to rewrite it every day, because the audience hasn't seen it before. He could bring in whoever's currently doing dates locally, and change it up any time he wanted to.

[middleman]

I wonder what a casino in Las Vegas would pay him to do an hour standup/interview/sketch show. He wouldn't even have to rewrite it every day, because the audience hasn't seen it before. He could bring in whoever's currently doing dates locally, and change it up any time he wanted to.

What casino wouldn't hire him?

[Key Lime Guy]

Apropos of nothing: I bet Steve Carrell would be a terrific late night host; he seems potentially Carson-esque.

[DMark]

NBC network executives are total idiots.

Conan has recently started losing consistantly in the ratings to Craig Ferguson - not a great omen for Conan.
On the other hand, Leno has consistently beat Letterman, and Leno's ratings are still the one shining light on NBC.
Leno has said he would like to stay, and it wouldn't take a lot of money to pay off Conan to hold off a few more years.

However, in their infinite wisdom, NBC executives have decided to stick to their guns, drop Leno, their number one late night host - and replace him with the number 2 late late night host, Conan, and ship him off to LA. Then they intend to put in an totally untested newbie (Fallon) to compete against the current number one late late host (Ferguson).

NBC has one of the longest running, successful talk shows in the history of television - The Tonight Show. Now they are going to throw up that free lunch and screw it up. Not only that, but are you aware that one of the reasons that The Today Show is so popular is that people fall asleep with The Tonight Show on in the bedroom and when their television comes back on in the morning, it is on the same channel? If they ain't watching NBC when they fall asleep - hmm.

It is mindboggling that NBC might actually ruin their entire night, as well as their early morning news show, in one fell swoop, in a matter of weeks!

Idiots.