Tv, Late Night Talk Show | featured news

“The Tonight Show” will begin a new era in February when Jimmy Fallon succeeds Jay Leno as host of the most storied and successful program in late-night television. NBC plans to announce on Wednesday its plan to install Mr. Fallon as the show’s sixth host at the conclusion of the network’s coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics from Sochi, Russia. NBC also is to confirm reports that it plans to shake up the axes of the television industry by moving the show from its longtime home in Los Angeles to its birthplace, New York.

There's speculation that NBC may be looking to replace Jay Leno with the younger-skewing Jimmy Fallon; Could it be time to turn the lights out on Jay?

Reporters who cover politics and media had their undies in a bunch Wednesday over a study conducted by the Center for Media and Public Affairs announcing, “late night TV talk show comedians have told more jokes about Mitt Romney than about all Democrats combined since the party nominating conventions.”

If David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon crack wise and no one's around to laugh, are they still funny? It turns out ... yes, very! With a massive storm approaching and New Yorkers being either evacuated or encouraged to stay in their homes, the "Late Show" and "Late Night" taped Monday afternoon without audiences. (Maybe Letterman and Fallon should have tweeted their monologues, however -- thousands of East Coasters had lost power by the time the shows aired and local newscasts were providing constant storm coverage.)

President Obama got back at Donald Trump by mocking him -- and himself -- over citizenship claims. "This all dates back to when we were growing up together in Kenya," Obama joked to The Tonight Show's Jay Leno on Wednesday. "We had constant run-ins on the soccer field." Obama added to laughter. "He wasn't very good and resented it. ... When we finally moved to America, I thought it would be over."

The president told the "Late Show" audience that Mr. Romney was "writing off a big chunk of the country."

Following a flurry of rumors, the network confirmed Tuesday that it will move "Jimmy Kimmel Live" earlier by one half-hour, to 11:35, starting Jan. 8. That will put it in direct competition with NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" for a three-way ratings brawl.

"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," NBC's flagship late night program, has laid off 20 staffers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Deadline reports that Leno himself took a "tremendous" pay cut as well. Details of the departments that will be affected by the downsizing are currently unknown, nor is it known why the layoffs took place.

The Dog Pound will woof again: Arsenio Hall is returning to late-night TV. Two decades after his self-titled show rebuilt the talk genre for a new generation, the 56-year-old comic and recent "Celebrity Apprentice" winner will attempt a major comeback with a nightly syndicated offering starting in September 2013.

Jack McBrayer from "30 Rock" and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog are insulted at a famous Chicago hot dog stand.
<