Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Debuts Tonight

Everyone seems to be having mixed feelings on the new host of NBC’s Late Night, but The Blot can’t wait to see how Saturday Night Live Alum Jimmy Fallon does sitting in the seat once held by two comedy legends: David Letterman and Conan O’Brien. Fallon’s hosting duties begin with tonight’s episode of Late Night and I am sure it will be heavily scrutinized by almost everyone with internet access. It should be extremely interesting to see how Fallon handles all of this newfound pressure as he begins his hosting duties of a show which has been a staple of NBC’s late night programming since 1982.


While all eyes will be on Fallon, I am more interested in seeing what The Roots have in store for us as Late Night’s official house band. I can only imagine what Black Thought and ?uestlove have prepared for their very first night of this new long standing gig on network television.

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon debuts tonight, Monday, March 2, 2009, and then airs from here on out weeknights on NBC at 12:35/11:35c.

The Roots Officially Join Jimmy Fallon as Late Night’s New House Band

The rumors prove true once again. After months of speculation, it was officially announced on Monday that the legendary Roots crew would be giving up their touring lifestyle to join Jimmy Fallon on the set of Late Night on NBC. The unbelievable really has become reality. Fallon revealed “in the first installment of his nightly video blog on www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com ... that critically acclaimed Grammy winning hip-hop band The Roots will become Fallon’s house band when Late Night makes its broadcast debut.” (link)


The Blot is a huge fan of The Roots and I’ve been lucky enough to see them play live multiple times. I’m interested in seeing just what impact this will have on their careers. On the one hand it will definitely give them more exposure to the general public than ever before, but one would think filming a television show 5 days a week/52 weeks a year would put a stop to their constant touring and possibly an end to their recording careers. But, The Roots obviously see this as a huge opportunity.

When asked about this exciting news Roots founder Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson said “we are really excited to be working with Jimmy on the new Late Night. It’s also an honor to be working with an icon like Lorne Michaels. We are looking forward to becoming part of the history of 30 Rock.” (link) I’m really excited for Fallon’s debut on March 2, 2009 and can’t wait to see how this all plays out. It’s either going to be really awesome or a complete disaster, but I don’t see it falling somewhere in the middle.

Jimmy Fallon Returns To NBC As Host Of Late Night

After years of speculation, we now know who will be taking over as host of Late Night when Conan O’Brien leaves in 2009 to take over the Tonight Show. (link) The Hollywood Reporter found out earlier today that Jimmy Fallon has signed a deal to take over hosting duties for NBC’s Late Night upon O'Brien's departure. (link) Conan’s chair became available in 2004 when it was announced he would be Jay Leno’s successor as host of the Tonight Show upon Leno’s retirement in 2009.

It has been a long four years since the initial announcement of Leno’s scheduled retirement as rumors mounted that Leno was unhappy about his already planned exit and was hoping to either extend his Tonight Show run or move to a rival station. Many names have been floated around as the eventual successor to O’Brien on Late Night, with Fallon’s name repeatedly being mentioned as a front runner based upon his popular run on Saturday Night Live and his stint as co-host of SNL’s Weekend Update with Tina Fey.


While Fallon has been The Blot’s favorite Saturday Night Live cast members in recent years, I am worried that his unique style of delivery might be found a little grating when on television 5 nights a week. Hopefully his transition to behind Late Night’s desk will be a smooth one and much more successful than the comedian’s movie career which pretty much died on impact after Taxi and Fever Pitch bombed in theaters.