History of Late Night TV

As a touring stand-up comedian, Jimmy Fallon specialized in many celebrity impersonations such as Jerry Seinfeld, Pat O'Brien, Chris Rock, Gilbert Gottfried and more. He studied improv at the legendary Groundlings theatre in Los Angeles, where Phil Hartman, Will Ferrell and Pee Wee Herman had studied. Jimmy Fallon was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998-2004, hosting weekend update with Tina Fey.

 

Fallon has appeared in a few films such as Anything Else, Fever Pitch, Almost Famous and Whip It.

 

In 2009, when Conan vacated his late night show on NBC and moved to being the host of the Tonight Show, Fallon stepped into the 12:35 am slot. Before Conan, David Letterman had the 12:35 am show on NBC. Fallon's salary is $12 million per year for The Tonight Show. Leno made $15 million. 

 

Jimmy Fallon's band is The Roots. This was a surprising choice since the band had already garnered a following on their own. His announcer is Steve Higgins. His final 12:35 am show was Friday, February 7, 2014. He finished the show by playing the drums and singing "The Weight" by the group The Band with The Muppets (see photo below). Fallon is an avid music fan and has performed many songs with a comic flair on his show. After playing the song, he walked across the hall to his new studio where he would become the next host of The Tonight Show. 

 

On Febrary 17, 2014, Jimmy Fallon's first Tonight Show aired on NBC. His first guests were Will Smith and U2. Hopefully the transition does not turn out to be another debacle for NBC like the situation with Conan. Fallon has said he will not change the show, moving from 12:35 am to 11:35 pm. But, we'll see since often the network puts pressure on hosts to water down the material and to be less edgy. That is the complaint against Leno, and to some degree Letterman. The Tonight Show has moved back to New York, to studio 6B. In the past, that studio was used by Jack Paar and Johnny Carson. 

 

Seth Myers from SNL took over Fallon's 12:35 am time slot on February 24, 2014. Ironically, Myers has also worked as the weekend update anchor, just like Fallon did.