The Tonight Show Goes From Old To Young, From West To East

Producers and execs are ringing the changes at Tonight Show; first the rumor that Jimmy Fallon would replace Jay Leno as host crystallized into something real, and now plans are to take the show back to New York.

Currently held in Burbank, California, the show is heading back to the Big Apple, where it started in 1954 with Steve Allen as host. Nothing, of course, is confirmed yet, but with several top TV ‘cats’ all reading from the same hymnbook, it’s looking likely. And it’s the same with Fallon; NBC has not sealed the deal with him yet, but if it’s there he’ll certainly take it, such is the magnitude of the step up. Fallon - 38 to Leno’s 62 - offers up a brand of youthful comedy, utilizing the Internet for most of his jokes, and, more importantly in the context of the geographical shift, Leno’s style is suited to the ‘Las Vegas’ style of deliverance. “It’s basically a done deal,” a network source told the New York Daily News. “It’s come down to a matter of when.” Another draw is the state of New York's budget proposal, which includes a tax credit for established TV shows that relocate to the state. Seems ready-made for The Tonight Show, doesn’t it?

Jimmy Fallon can offer something different to Jay Leno - this perhaps?

This tax credit is worth 30% of production costs, and will be accessible to Tonight if the budget is $30 million or more, or it spends at least $10 million in capital expenses each year. Additionally, it “must be filmed before a studio audience” of at least 200 people, according to budget documents. This is not a problem for the NBC chat show, not a problem at all.