Rumors Heat Up that Fallon is in and Leno is Out
NBC swears up and down that Jimmy Fallon is not replacing Jay Leno, even though he totally is.
Of course, when FTVLive BROKE the World EXCLUSIVE that Leno was headed back to the Tonight Show to replace Conan O'Brien, NBC denied that as well...right up until it happened.
Well it looks like that once again, NBC is screwing up another late night transition.
As Deadline points out, this time the two hosts involved are not even feuding. NBC has found itself in a groundswell of speculation surrounding The Tonight Show host Jay Leno and Late Night‘s Jimmy Fallon.
The network is staying mum on its plans but a few things appear settled. Fallon is poised to replace Leno on The Tonight Show.
When he does that, he is not expected to copy his predecessor Conan O’Brien’s cross-country move from New York to Los Angeles. I hear Fallon and his producers had been lobbying for staying put in New York. Fallon’s current studio is being renovated, which sources say was part of a planned refurbishing of 30 Rock, and it will likely house the futureTonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Leno’s current contract, which is up in September 2014, will likely be late-night host’s last one. In an interview for GQ, Late Night executive producer Lorne Michaels also hinted at the inevitability of Fallon’s anointment as new Tonight host. “I’m not allowed to say it — yet,” he said. “But I think there’s an inevitability to it,” Lorne Michaels says. “He’s the closest to Carson that I’ve seen of this generation.”