Rather than work out his late late night routine at comedy clubs, incoming NBC show host Jimmy Fallon will ramp up his nightly shtick on the Interwebs. Sometime this fall, he'll be unleashing material 450 percent less amusing than anything posted on FunnyOrDie.com. Lorne Michaels, Fallon's boss at Saturday Night Live and now his Late Night executive producer, will "post [the clips] at 12:30 every night, so people will begin to look for Jimmy at that time." They'll also learn to post the harshest criticism Fallon has ever seen at 12:31. [NYT]
"Jimmy Fallon has been spotted doing some serious time on the treadmill at his Manhattan-area gym lately, but he isn’t necessarily happy about it. [...]
"'He’s a little stunned that at this point in his life he has to deal with such things. I mean, it’s late-night TV,' said the source. 'He and his wife love to stay in, eat pizza, watch TV and relax. That’s his perfect night, so what if he’s packed on a few pounds because of it?'" [Scoop]
"I think it’s a reach," says NBC co-chair Ben Silverman about the possibility of NBC hanging on to Jay Leno after they kick him out in January 2010, after his contract expires and after they've already handed his show over to Conan O'Brien. That's the bit of news the Times' Bill Carter thinks you missed in all the reports about yesterday's NBC upfronts. [NYT] For us, the real news was seeing new Late Night host Jimmy Fallon field questions from reporters in the form of a stand up comedy routine, which, all in all, fell flat. Looking forward to opening monologues! See for yourself, below. CONTINUED »
In not exactly news, NBC confirms they've inked Jimmy Fallon to take over for Conan O'Brien when the late night red head does some taking over himself, for Jay Leno, sometime around June 2009. [NYT] There's been mucho speculation about what Jeff Zucker & Co. were going to decide about NBC's late night slate, after rampant rumors about Jay Leno not being ready to give up his post, and NBC's fears that Leno would quickly jump to a waiting competitor like ABC or Fox, allowed for rumormongering about how Leno might not leave, which would mean the network would have to pay O'Brien a rumored $40-45 million penalty fee for not hiring him. That's a lot of cash, yes, but Leno's show is, like the Today show, a cash-frickin'-cow.
The possibility that Leno would stick around carried some weight because, well, he's Leno. And: His ratings consistently beat David Letterman at CBS, and haven't gone down the path like the sinking ship that is NBC's primetime. He remains a huge commodity, and it's certain NBC remained (remains?) nervous about his exit.
But as far back as September 2004, NBC guaranteed O'Brien the 11:30pm slot that Leno holds. They promised it to him, in ink, to keep him from defecting to another network, the very scenario they're wary of with Leno right now. CONTINUED »
It's official, at least in the way things are official in gossip circles without official conversation: Jimmy Fallon is taking over for Conan O'Brien when the redhead departs for Jay Leno's proper late night spot in 2009. A formal announcement is expected May 11 or 12, when NBC brags to advertisers about all its promising new programming, and how it's basically handing the late late franchise to a Carson Daly knockoff.
ABC staff and viewers were decidedly not laughing over this clip of World News Now anchors Ryan Owens and Taina Hernandez giggling their way through a segment on actor Owen Wilson's apparent suicide attempt.
No word yet on whether the two will be disciplined by David "He's cute when he's angry" Westin, but the ill-timed "Case of The Giggles" has already triggered an on-air apology, and prompted notorious "corpser" Jimmy Fallon to shake his head in disbelief and remark, "Jeez, even I could have made it through that one."
• Tom Snyder dies, and with him dies the legacy of the funny late-night comic.
• The Bancroft family still divided on whether or not to sell their company to an sinister old man who has deep pockets and no soul.
• Redstones continue to hate, sue and publicly debase one another.
• In moving to CNN, Campbell Brown becomes one of only three women currently hosting her own primetime cable news show, and joins the illustrious ranks of Greta "Legs" Van Susteren and Nancy "Crazypants" Grace.
• Less than a week after getting publicly lambasted by Bill Keller of the NYT for shoddy reporting, Slate's Jack Shafer wonders whether disgraced journalists should get a second chance. How topical!
With less than two years left on Conan O'Brien's contract, the question everyone wants to know is: who will step in and fill the late night void once O'Brien moves onto The Tonight Show? Unfortunately, NBC execs have some disconcerting news: they're disproportionately fond of Jimmy Fallon.
“We know him from SNL and saw what he can do on-camera and off-camera, and I think he’d be terrific,” says NBC late night chief Rick Ludwin, who also confirmed rumors that Fallon was "at the top of [NBC's] short list."
And, indeed, everything about Fallon just screams "TERRIFIC!"
• Jimmy Fallon subjected to alcohol-free flight, despite his insistence that flying (much like Jimmy Fallon movies) is only tolerable after obscene amounts of booze.
• 50 Cent is determined to make sure his VH1: Behind the Music episode ends differently than MC Hammer's.
• Paris Hilton may or may not be sleeping with Stavros Niarchos, who may or may not be fantasizing that he's back with MK "Ribs" Olsen.
• Jessica Simpson is reportedly dating unfunny funnyman Dane Cook.
• Diddy's baby mama has decided to pack her bags, and find herself a new man who won't strike up a platonic friendship with Sienna Miller.
• Chris Tucker apparently does an excellent Bill Clinton impression, but somehow we don't think we'll be getting them mixed up anytime soon.
• Jimmy Fallon hopes to become the next Conan O'Brien. All he needs is the official go-ahead, and "much, much funnier" jokes.
• Getty buys WireImage, the Monopoly Man laughs and Jossip editors wonder if this means they'll have to change their password.
• Gawker editors challenge Anne Slowey to an eating duel; sadly, Slowey's too busy getting blitzed on white wine spritzers to even notice.
• Nick Cannon elopes for a quickie wedding in Vegas, prompting many people to ask themselves: who in the hell is Nick Cannon?
• Who will be America's Next Tabloid Trainwreck? You decide.
• More proof that the Jersey Girl on American Idol has great rack, shitty vocals.
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