by John McLean
A major daytime shake up happened earlier this month at The View when longtime cohost Joy Behar declared she would be leaving the daytime staple after sixteen years. And then rumors continued to spin out of control when reports that creator and cohost Barbara Walters would be retiring and cohost for almost a decade Elisabeth Hasselbeck would be kicked out of her chair because of her right wing ideology. Both of those reports turned out to be false.
But now all of the “who’s in, who’s out” drama has switched to the late night circuit. After Jimmy Kimmel Live! moved forward in its time slot to 11:30 p.m. on ABC, it is reported that NBC,who repeatedly garners low ratings, was becoming increasingly concerned about how Jay Leno, the host of The Tonight Show, would be able to hold up in the ratings war against Kimmel, who has a younger audience. Somebody who does have a younger audience and is reported to be replacing Leno in 2014 is the acclaimed SNL vet Jimmy Fallon, the host of his own show on NBC after Leno.
Could Leno be out, and could Fallon be in? Reports are unclear, and NBC executives are staying silent on the subject. Every day a new report comes out, and nobody is doing anything to put the rumors to rest.
Leno isn’t helping himself because he has been making a series of jokes about his bosses at NBC, which aren’t sitting well with the executives.
If the rumors are true, NBC could finally start becoming a contender in the late night circuit once more. Fallon is young and brings a more diverse audience. Placing him at an earlier time slot would only widen the number of viewers who tune in to see him host. Also Fallen is more irreverent than Leno, but he is also able to stay clean as far as his jokes are concerned. When Fallon takes Leno’s chair, Kimmel better watch out.
