Fallon, who is 45, had hoped that presenting this stripped-down show in the company of his family would let people see him as a thoughtful, compassionate person rather than an overeager caricature. Jimmy Fallon's longtime producer Katie Hockmeyer, who had been with Fallon since he took on Late Night in 2009, left her job not long after her return from maternity leave. In an interview, Cenac told me, “In a moment like this, it exposes how white and male that landscape still is.”. The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon/YouTube. “It’s not as though he just ran out onstage, unexpectedly, and just did his Chris Rock impression, ” Cenac said. “We whittled it down to what the hardest things, the utmost honest things were, ” Fallon said. These digital gatherings have been the routine for the past three months, since the “Tonight Show” staff members started sheltering in place and Fallon began combing his Hamptons home for anything — supplies, locations, help from his wife — that he could use to produce the program there. She is the unseen hand in the “Tonight Show” segments produced around their house, holding the camera phone and helping to guide her husband’s performances. (A publicist for Rock said he declined to comment.). You'll get the latest updates on this topic in your browser notifications. Download the TODAY app for the latest coverage on the coronavirus outbreak. The Late Show war is getting juicy. Winnie, 6, and Franny, 5, have become familiar faces on the show, which Fallon has been hosting from his house for nearly a month, while Fallon’s wife and the girls' mom, Nancy Juvonen, operates the camera. “(Jimmy) begs once a year, ‘Can we just do (one photo with the girls)? NBC touted The Tonight Show's social media reach, noting that it's the most popular late night show on YouTube. The sketch also serves as a reminder of how blackface, a practice created to ridicule and demean people of color, endures in contemporary comedy. The decision to drop the opener is the most notable change made so far on “The Tonight Show” since former “Today” executive producer Jim Bell took over as showrunner in October. Jimmy Fallon Makes Emotional Return to Tonight Show Studio: ‘Any Type of Normalcy Feels Great’ this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. When Fallon debuted and ascended to the top times were less troublesome. All rights reserved. What is the president doing? The Peacock network famously launched its internal “NBC 2000” initiative in the late 1990s to cut down opening theme songs, shrink end credits and immediately transition from one show to the next without commercial breaks. Fallon, by his own admission, is an entertainer who thrives on fun and frivolity. But we are here for you and slowly and safely getting back to work and back to whatever normal is. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the New York Division of Human Rights, but according to the stage manager's attorney, Dominick Bratti, the case appeared to be languishing with the EEOC. Colbert embraced more political humor, while Conan O’Brien just completely retooled his show, as it went from an hour to half-hour. In mid-May the show was averaging just over 2 million viewers a night, compared to about 3.6 million for “The Late Show” on CBS. How do I do it? That’s an attitude he has maintained, while comparing the current situation faced by Americans to the uncertainty after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. “We got bigger fish to fry.”, Ahmir (Questlove) Thompson, a founding member of the Roots and the musical director at “The Tonight Show, ” appeared to reference the incident in a tweet where he wrote, “Since we all cancelling? PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMe to raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. He also said he had been scrutinizing himself, trying to understand what he could do better and how he could use his voice to help break the cycle of anger, sadness and fear. Coyote Ugly Turns 20: Where Is the Cast Now? He is also vulnerable to a zeitgeist that can quickly turn against his down-the-middle program — he is still criticized for tousling the hair of then-candidate Donald J. Trump in 2016 — and favor fellow hosts who are more comfortable staking out bolder positions. Fallon appears to have found the secret sauce as he continues to do his show and add some levity to a confusing time, although he remains unsure what's to come for his program. The Late Show finished the 2018-2019 season with an average of 3.82 million viewers a night for CBS, topping The Tonight Show's 2.44 million for NBC, and Jimmy Kimmel Live's 2.04 million for ABC, per the NY Post. “I’ll say to Jimmy sometimes, ‘Is it OK, or did people get mad at us yet? Page Six also mentioned two other recent Tonight Show departures. But Fallon broadly acknowledged the days of civil unrest still transpiring and the “senseless violence that erupts and disrupts the entire country and now the world.”. "These are the hardest times to do comedy, but they’re also the time when we need it the most," he shared. I worked all day! But this ambition has been sorely tested by recent events. That's the first time The Late Show has averaged at the top of the 18-49 ratings in 25 years, since David Letterman hosted the show during the Clinton era. Though the process of making “The Tonight Show” has remained intact, it has been accelerated to warp speed and the pressure to keep it fresh has intensified. “But I was afraid of both ways — I’m afraid of being quiet and afraid of not being quiet and saying the wrong thing.”, The following Monday, Fallon was back to hosting a somewhat more traditional “Tonight Show, ” telling monologue jokes about Senator Mitt Romney’s participation in a Washington protest (“That’s like seeing the Wu-Tang Clan show up at a Kenny G concert, ” Fallon said) and the reopening of American cities like Las Vegas. Still, as Fallon and his colleagues spent the weekend before the June 1 “Tonight Show” clearing the decks for a more topical broadcast, the host committed himself to speaking personally at its opening. But What Does That Mean? Other guests on the episode included Charlize Theron and a performance from Little Big Town. (A publicist for the Roots said the band had no comment for this article. Tyler, the host of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” on the CW, described Fallon’s portrayal of Rock as an example of “the casual, baked-in racism of this country.”, “Black people can’t constantly be the ones raising their hands and going, ‘Hey, guys, I’m offended, ’” she said.