On Wednesday, NBC finally confirmed that Jimmy Fallon will be replacing Jay Leno come February 2014.
The news wasn't shocking considering all of the recent speculation (and viral videos) in the media, but what was surprising was how well Leno handled the news.
“There really aren’t any complications like there were the last time," Leno told the New York Times following NBC's announcement. "This time it feels right."
Leno wasn't quite as kind during Wednesday night's monologue, while his late-night colleagues used their monologues to make fun of Leno and NBC's mishandled "Tonight Show" takeover.
Jay Leno used his monologue to congratulate Jimmy Fallon and slam David Letterman.
After news broke Wednesday that Jay Leno will be handing over the "Tonight" show to Jimmy Fallon, Leno started the night's monologue by taking a jab at another rival: "Folks, I got to be honest with you, I had a really awkward day today. I had to call David Letterman and tell him he didn’t get the 'Tonight Show' again. Awful! Terrible!"
He had kinder words for his successor.
"I want to congratulate our good friend Jimmy Fallon! He is a hell of a guy, he’s going to do a great job. I just have one request for Jimmy: we’ve all fought, kicked, and scratched, to get this network up to 5th place, now we have to keep it there! Jimmy, don’t let it slip into 6th! We are counting on you!"
He jokingly continued, "Things move so quickly; Jimmy hasn’t even taken over yet and the rumors have already starting… like NBC says in five years they plan to replace Jimmy with Justin Bieber."
But all's well that ends well, as Leno joked, "Today I accepted a new position; I am going to be the head basketball coach at Rutgers University! Thank you very much!"
David Letterman both made fun of and congratulated Jay Leno.
Letterman started his monologue Wednesday night by joking, "How many folks saw the white smoke coming out of the chimney at NBC?"
“He’s being replaced by a younger late night talk show host — what could possibly go wrong?” he deadpanned. ”Honestly. They had pretty good luck with this in the past.”
Letterman then goes on to try and explain the history of the "Tonight" show host switches and ultimately says, "I don't get this ... what's the matter with NBC?"
"Here's what it's going to be, Paul," he added. "It's going to be you and me and two guys named Jimmy."
Watch the full monologue below in which Letterman continues to slam (and congratulate) Leno, along with "The Top 10 Things We'll Miss About Jay Leno":
Jimmy Fallon graciously thanked his show's crew and Jay Leno.
Jimmy Fallon opened his show Wednesday night by joking "Hello! Welcome! This is Late Night with Jimmy Fallon … for now."
"You guys probably heard the news — I’m going to be taking over the 'Tonight Show' next February," he continued. "But don’t worry. Until February, our focus is right here on whatever this show is called."
Fallon then more seriously added:
"I want to thank everyone here at 'Late Night,' the staff, the crew, and of course The Roots. I have to say thanks to Jay Leno for being so gracious. It means so much to me to have his support. I just want to thank the fans for staying up to 12:35am and watching us…”
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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