Jimmy Fallon is coming to late-night television.
In a press conference yesterday, NBC announced that the Saturday Night Live alum would be taking over for Conan O’Brien on Late Night after O’Brien moves to The Tonight Show, where he’ll replace Jay Leno.
Fallon was recruited by Late Night producer Lorne Michaels, who worked with Fallon on Saturday Night Live.
Michaels was also responsible for signing a completely unknown O’Brien for his first hosting gig on Late Night in 1993. Previously, O’Brien hadn’t had any experience in front of the camera, but he worked as a writer for SNL and The Simpsons.
Michaels says of Fallon: “I think he’s just built for it. He’s really funny and he’s smart, and he has a really, really good work ethic. You can’t do this kind of show if there is any confusion about what you really want to be doing. You have to what this more than everything else, and he does.”
At yesterday’s press conference at 30 Rockefeller Center, Fallon told the press: “I hope to make it the best show and a great show to fall asleep during.”
Fallon will compete with Jimmy Kimmel and Craig Ferguson, whose shows on ABC and CBS, respectively, currently air opposite The Tonight Show.
Jay Leno’s contract with NBC ends in January 2010. NBC’s co-chairman Ben Silverman told the New York Times today that keeping Leno on NBC would be “a reach.”
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