Skip to footer

Seth Meyers replaces Fallon on 'Late Night'

Seth Meyers replaces Fallon: Seth Myers has been tabbed to replace Jimmy Fallon as 'Late Night' show host starting next year. As Seth Meyers replaces Fallon, current 'Late Night' host Fallon will be taking Jay Leno's spot as host of the 'Tonight' show.

|
Chris Pizzello/AP
Seth Meyers (r.) replaces Jimmy Fallon (l.) as host of 'Late Night' on NBC.
  • By David Bauder Associated Press

Seth Meyers is moving from his "Weekend Update" desk to his own late night show on NBC.

The network said Sunday that the 12-year "Saturday Night Live" cast member will replace Jimmy Fallon at the 12:35 a.m. "Late Night" show next year. Fallon is moving up an hour as Jay Leno's replacement on the "Tonight" show.

Meyers was considered the lead candidate for the "Late Night" job ever since Fallon's promotion was announced. The announcement solidifies Lorne Michaels as the comedy kingmaker at NBC. He'll be the executive in charge of "Late Night," ''Tonight" and "Saturday Night Live," which will all originate from New York's Rockefeller Center.

Meyers, 39, has been the head writer at "Saturday Night Live" for eight seasons. He's in his seventh year as "Weekend Update" host, to which he devotes all of his on-air time now.

And like Fallon before him, Meyers is making the move from "Weekend Update" to "Late Night."

"We think Seth is one of the brightest, most insightful comedy writers and performers of his generation," said Bob Greenblatt, NBC entertainment chairman. His topical comedy is "perfect for the 'Late Night' franchise," he said.

The late-night show began with David Letterman in 1982, and its other hosts have been Conan O'Brien and Fallon.

Meyers is a Northwestern University graduate and began his comedy career in Chicago. His chief television competition will be Craig Ferguson on CBS and "Nightline" on ABC. Like television in general, the late-night audience has dispersed in several directions, with DVR viewing of shows taped earlier a big alternative at night.

Late-night comedy is one of the NBC's few strong suits, with "Saturday Night Live" often drawing a bigger audience than most of what the network airs in prime-time. With Meyers' appointment, NBC is hoping for a smooth transition to a younger generation.

"I only have to work for Lorne for five more years before I pay him back for the time I totaled his car," Meyers quipped. "12:30 on NBC has long been incredible real estate. I hope I can do it justice."

Behind the scenes, Michael Shoemaker will remain with "Late Night" as producer, NBC said.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Seth Meyers replaces Fallon on 'Late Night'
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/TV/2013/0513/Seth-Meyers-replaces-Fallon-on-Late-Night
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe