Brian Damage
07-30-2007, 09:35 AM
'SATURDAY Night Live" stalwart Jimmy Fallon is the top candidate to replace Conan O'Brien in 2009 - when O'Brien is set to take over "The Tonight Show" from Jay Leno.
According to a report today in the authoritative trade magazine Broadcasting & Cable, NBC and Fallon are deep in talks to put him in the "Late Show" seat that launched David Letterman.
"I think he'd be terrific, and he is at the top of our short list," NBC late-night chief Rick Ludwin told the magazine.
NBC is hell-bent on solidifying its late-night lineup way in advance.
It apparently does not want a repeat of the Leno-Letterman war that broke out after Johnny Carson announced he was retiring 15 years ago.
To avoid that - and the prospect of losing Conan to a rival network when his last contract expired - it promised him the "Tonight" show job in 2009.
Leno is slated to step down then, though he has not said publicly whether that was his choice or a decision forced on him by NBC.
Fallon would complete the other half of the equation and give the network two years to prepare for the change.
After the "Today" show, "Tonight" is NBC's second-biggest moneymaker.
Fallon quietly signed a holding deal with NBC earlier this year, according to B&C.
NBC talked earlier this year, and only informally, with late-night cable host Jon Stewart about the job. But Stewart is tied to Comedy Central past 2009 and did not express a strong interest in jumping to network TV.
Fallon has a moderate amount of experience in a talk-show setting.
He co-anchored the "SNL" spoof newscast "Weekend Update" for several years with Tina Fey.
Fallon also filled in well for Letterman when Dave was out for several weeks in 2003 recuperating from bypass surgery.
Still up in the air is whether the "Late Show" would stay in New York or move to the West Coast, the mag reported.
In fact, Ludwin says some higher ups in the network would like to see "Tonight" move back to New York, where it began.
Conan's move to California "hasn't been completely nailed down," he told B&C.
In the end, the choice of an "SNL" alum to take over for O'Brien is not all that surprising.
"SNL" creator Lorne Michaels owns a piece of "Late Night" and would be expected to have a say - though not a deciding one - in who got the host's job.
NBC says it expects to nail down Fallon by early next year, in time to announce its full, late-night lineup by this time next summer.
One way or another, late-night TV is headed for a serious shake-up in 2009.
Leno, who will be out of a job, could jump to ABC or even Fox, which has long tried to create a late-night franchise for the network.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07302007/tv/he_e_res_jimmy_tv_michael_shain.htm
According to a report today in the authoritative trade magazine Broadcasting & Cable, NBC and Fallon are deep in talks to put him in the "Late Show" seat that launched David Letterman.
"I think he'd be terrific, and he is at the top of our short list," NBC late-night chief Rick Ludwin told the magazine.
NBC is hell-bent on solidifying its late-night lineup way in advance.
It apparently does not want a repeat of the Leno-Letterman war that broke out after Johnny Carson announced he was retiring 15 years ago.
To avoid that - and the prospect of losing Conan to a rival network when his last contract expired - it promised him the "Tonight" show job in 2009.
Leno is slated to step down then, though he has not said publicly whether that was his choice or a decision forced on him by NBC.
Fallon would complete the other half of the equation and give the network two years to prepare for the change.
After the "Today" show, "Tonight" is NBC's second-biggest moneymaker.
Fallon quietly signed a holding deal with NBC earlier this year, according to B&C.
NBC talked earlier this year, and only informally, with late-night cable host Jon Stewart about the job. But Stewart is tied to Comedy Central past 2009 and did not express a strong interest in jumping to network TV.
Fallon has a moderate amount of experience in a talk-show setting.
He co-anchored the "SNL" spoof newscast "Weekend Update" for several years with Tina Fey.
Fallon also filled in well for Letterman when Dave was out for several weeks in 2003 recuperating from bypass surgery.
Still up in the air is whether the "Late Show" would stay in New York or move to the West Coast, the mag reported.
In fact, Ludwin says some higher ups in the network would like to see "Tonight" move back to New York, where it began.
Conan's move to California "hasn't been completely nailed down," he told B&C.
In the end, the choice of an "SNL" alum to take over for O'Brien is not all that surprising.
"SNL" creator Lorne Michaels owns a piece of "Late Night" and would be expected to have a say - though not a deciding one - in who got the host's job.
NBC says it expects to nail down Fallon by early next year, in time to announce its full, late-night lineup by this time next summer.
One way or another, late-night TV is headed for a serious shake-up in 2009.
Leno, who will be out of a job, could jump to ABC or even Fox, which has long tried to create a late-night franchise for the network.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07302007/tv/he_e_res_jimmy_tv_michael_shain.htm