Jimmy Fallon is creating a daily video blog in the run-up to taking over as host of NBC's 'Late Night.'
Viewers will get a first taste of Jimmy Fallon’s NBC yakker starting this week.
That’s when daily video blogs starring Fallon will start appearing at 12:35 a.m. Tuesday on NBC’s website. Although originally conceived as a dry run for Fallon’s takeover of “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” the webisodes will instead be more lo-fi, freeform-style looks at what Fallon is up to on the eve of his hosting gig.
Meanwhile, NBC is expected to announce today an official start date for “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon”: at the beginning of March (likely March 2).
That means O’Brien could step down on the last Friday of February to prep for his gig as “Tonight Show” host. (NBC has already announced that O’Brien assumes the “Tonight Show” from Jay Leno on June 1.)
March transition would come in the middle of sweeps (which has been pushed from February this winter because of the upcoming digital TV transition).
Peacock has remained mum on details surrounding the Fallon show, but some nuggets have emerged — including the likelihood that hip-hop group the Roots will join as the show’s house band.
The Fallon webcasts — which will run around five minutes — will change every day. They may range from a behind-the-scenes look at a Fallon standup gig to a riff on something he’s found on the streets to a clip of Fallon running around his new offices.
Net is still figuring out where else the webcasts could be made accessible, such as Hulu.
Fallon’s webcasts are being overseen by Michael Shoemaker, who will serve as showrunner of “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” as well (Daily Variety, Aug. 6). Also involved in the Internet series: co-producer Gavin Purcell, the former “Attack of the Show” exec producer who joined the Fallon team this summer.
Lorne Michaels is an exec producer on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.” Michaels announced plans for the Fallon webisodes at this summer’s TV Critics Assn. confab.
Contact Michael Schneider at
mike.schneider@variety.com