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Leno was removed from the late night talk fest once before, so as to make room for “Late Night” host Conan O’Brien a few years back. However, when NBC didn’t like Conan’s ratings, they fired him in a very messy split and brought Jay back on board. Now, it’s sort of deja’ vu all over again.
This evening, NBC is once again giving Jay Leno the boot in favor of the current “Late Night” host Jimmy Fallon, who will take over the reigns of the iconic “The Tonight Show” on February 17th, following the Winter Olympics.
The new “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” will be produced by Saturday Night Live honcho Lorne Michaels, and is being moved from Burbank, CA to New York City, where the show originated when it was first hosted by Steve Allen in 1954. Former Saturday Night Live star Seth Meyers will replace Fallon on “Late Night” following “The Tonight Show” on NBC.
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Despite “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” still being #1 in the late night ratings wars, NBC feels it’s time for the 63-year-old Leno to move on and allow the younger line-up of Fallon and Meyers to be the late night future of the network. Having been down this road with NBC once before, Jay Leno has publicly vowed that when he leaves “The Tonight Show” this time it will be for good. Leno says he will go back on the comedy club circuit, produce a reality show about his love of cars, but NOT return to late night television again!
We’ll see, Jay — we’ll see!
