It's Official: Jimmy Fallon Will Take Over The Tonight Show In 2014

It’s been a long and newsworthy couple of weeks for Jimmy Fallon and Jay Leno. We’ve heard plenty of rumors discussing how Jimmy Fallon may leave his Late Night with Jimmy Fallon slot to take over for Leno in 2014 and, this morning, NBC has announced that all of the rumors are true—or at least some of them.

After 22 years on the Tonight Show stage, Leno will officially leave his post in 2014, which means if you are a fan, you will have months and months to brace for the transition. Since we’ve kind-of known this has been coming over the last several weeks, there’s even more exciting news. According to Deadline, Lorne Michaels will be staying on as Fallon’s producer and the transition will mark the first time NBC’s veteran producer will get his hands on The Tonight Show. I can’t wait to see what the two men do with the brand, despite some criticism stating Fallon may not have the chops for the gig.

Either way, the changeover seems as if it will go smoothly, with Leno bowing out gracefully this time around. The two men even did a joke-y bit together recently that addressed the rumors. Fallon, for his part, seems stoked about the changes.

“I’m really excited to host a show that starts today instead of tomorrow.”

The transition is expected to occur next year before NBC’s coverage of the winter Olympics, which should bring extra eyeballs to the table. The network, still hasn't officially said anything about Fallon's replacement, but we’ll let you know whether or not Seth Meyers will take over Fallon’s slot.

Photo Credit@NBC

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.