Jimmy Fallon

Jay Leno had to know the head honchos at NBC were gunning for him when he told the following joke Monday night: "You know the whole legend of St. Patrick, right?" he asked the audience in his opening monologue. "St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland - and then they came to the United States and became NBC executives. " The harsh humor directed at the guys who hold his fate in their hands is just the latest sign that the star and his bosses pretty much detest one another.

Seth Meyers has been tapped to be the host of NBC's "Late Night" after Jimmy Fallon takes over for Jay Leno as host of "The Tonight Show" next year. The appointment of Meyers, a cast member and head writer on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," had been expected for weeks. Lorne Michaels, the producer of "Saturday Night Live," will oversee Meyers' show, which airs at about 12:30 a.m., after "The Tonight Show. " Michaels also will be executive producer of "The Tonight Show" after it moves to New York with Fallon as host.

Should Kevin Durant or James Harden show up at your cocktail party, bringing up Dwight Howard's name isn't exactly the best icebreaker. NBC's Jimmy Fallon found that out the awkward way when the two Oklahoma City Thunder stars appeared on his show Monday night. "What do you think of Dwight Howard going to the Lakers?," Fallon asked Durant and Harden in a giddy and excited tone many would hear from Lakers fans. Durant shrugged his shoulders. Harden turned and slightly laughed.

Justin Timberlake says that Jimmy Fallon heckled him during his wedding speech. The "Suit & Tie" crooner, who married actress Jessica Biel in October 2012, put the late-night host on blast in his essay about Fallon for Time's 100 most influential people . "Picture this: I'm in the heart of an impromptu speech at my wedding reception in front of 150 guests, pouring it out to my lovely new bride," Timberlake wrote ...

President Obama has given a lot of major speeches. But never before has he punctuated one by dropping the microphone after, like he did Tuesday night on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (watch videos below) . It's the rhetorical equivalent of the end zone dance in the NFL, and came after Obama joined the NBC host in "slow-jamming" the news. And it was just one of the standout moments from the president's latest foray into late night television. Photos: The search for Romney's running mate Obama's appearance was part of his weeklong messaging effort to press Congress to extend lower interest rates for some student loan programs.

Model Kate Upton paid a visit to “Late Night” on Wednesday, where she promoted her latest eye-popping magazine cover - she's pictured on July's issue of GQ, sucking an extremely patriotic red, white and blue Popsicle - and, more importantly, showed Jimmy Fallon some of her renowned dance moves. Upton, who first shot to fame when a video of her doing the Dougie became a viral hit, recently created a sensation by performing another dance, the "cat daddy," while wearing the infamously microscopic bikini she wore on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Seth Meyers has been tapped to be the host of NBC's "Late Night" after Jimmy Fallon takes over for Jay Leno as host of "The Tonight Show" next year. The appointment of Meyers, a cast member and head writer on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," had been expected for weeks. Lorne Michaels, the producer of "Saturday Night Live," will oversee Meyers' show, which airs at about 12:30 a.m., after "The Tonight Show. " Michaels also will be executive producer of "The Tonight Show" after it moves to New York with Fallon as host.

Jay Leno is out at "The Tonight Show"; Jimmy Fallon is in. Now the question on everyone's lips is who will be the new host of “Late Night”? The candidates might include Seth Meyers, John Mulaney, Chelsea Handler, Andy Cohen and W. Kamau Bell. “Weekend Update” anchor Seth Meyers is already rumored to be a top contender for the job. Like Fallon, he's spent nearly his entire career at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where he's been a “Saturday Night Live” cast member since 2001 and head writer since 2006.

Ending weeks of gossip and speculation, NBC confirmed that Jimmy Fallon will succeed Jay Leno as host of "The Tonight Show" in the spring of 2014. Although Leno is still the most-watched late-night television host, NBC is making the move because it thinks Fallon will do better with younger viewers in the years to come. This is not the first time NBC has announced a plan to replace Leno. In 2009, NBC put Conan O'Brien in as host of "The Tonight Show" only to see ratings decline.

With Jimmy Fallon officially set to take over “The Tonight Show” from Jay Leno next year, viewers can expect plenty of changes to the nearly 60-year-old late-night franchise. Of course there's the show's geographic relocation, from Burbank to a souped-up new studio at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. But there's also a vast stylistic difference between Leno, 62, and Fallon, who will be several months shy of his 40th birthday when he takes over “Tonight.” In his two decades at NBC, Leno has consistently led the ratings -- mostly, his critics claim, by playing it safe with middle-of-the-road jokes and softball interviews.

Perhaps the editors of Time magazine need a refresher on the definition of  "influential. " Some of their choices from the TV arena for the just-released "100 Most Influential People In The World" are clear and spot on. Bryan Cranston of "Breaking Bad," Lena Dunham of "Girls" and late night's two Jimmys -- Kimmel and Fallon -- have all had a clear impact on show business. However, a few of their other choices are baffling, to say the least. PHOTOS: Time 100 gala For instance, why are Christina Aguilera and Mindy Kaling on the list?

It's not as juicy as Forbes' annual highest-paid celebrities list, but the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people always provides plenty of conversational fodder, especially when it comes to which TV personalities made the list. Though many people maintain that the era of the networks' late-night TV dominance is on the wane, two late-night hosts, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, made the list. Fallon for his impending ascension to the "Tonight Show" throne and Kimmel for his half-hour earlier promotion on ABC. HBO's lightning rod of controversy, Lena Dunham, also made the list for writing and starring in "Girls.

Lorne Michaels may soon assume responsibilities as executive producer of "The Tonight Show" when Jimmy Fallon takes over as host next year, but don't expect him to abandon his baby just yet. Michaels addressed the question floating around Hollywood at a Comedy On TV luncheon hosted by the Hollywood Radio and Television Society on Tuesday in Beverly Hills. "As long as it's relevant, it should be on," Michaels said about the future of "Saturday Night Live. " "I'll do it as long as I possibly can. I think that there will be a day when I'll look at it and say I don't have the edge I used to. " NBC's late-night kingpin, despite fervent interest behind the late-night shakeup, spoke little of his "SNL" pupil-turned-"Tonight Show" heir during his appearance - which was essentially a glamorized conversation with friend and former "SNL" regular Martin Short.

Marketers increasingly are focused on teenagers and young adults who are coming of age during the digital revolution -- creating shifts in viewing behavior that likely will have profound consequences for television companies. Ratings giant Nielsen on Tuesday released a study that explored viewing behavior of the so-called millennial generation -- the demographic roughly between the ages of 14 and 34. The report found that younger Americans are more multicultural than older Americans.

NEW YORK - If Jimmy Fallon was feeling stressed about his impending takeover of "The Tonight Show" during a rehearsal last Thursday at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, he certainly wasn't letting it show. Granted, the head-to-toe chicken costume he was wearing for an "all-clucking" version of the Lumineers' hit "Ho Hey" made it hard to divine his mood. "Do you mind doing it one more time?" he asked his fellow "Chickeneers" - country singer Blake Shelton, "Parks and Recreation" star Nick Offerman and "Late Night" writer Chris Tartaro - after two run-throughs.

You can say what you want about the labyrinthine nature of the Vatican, but when Pope Benedict XVI decided it was time to go, he announced he was leaving and then he went. A few weeks and a few puffs of smoke later, voila - a new pope. If only the good folks of NBC could follow the same game plan. Jay Leno has, mercifully, finally and formally announced that he will leave "The Tonight Show," this time for reals, to be replaced by Jimmy Fallon. Of course, we're talking a year from now - Spring 2014 - plus a cross-country move for the show, from Burbank to New York.

Jimmy Fallon's got a big job ahead hosting the Emmys on Sunday. It's a good thing this isn't the first time he's emceed a kudos-fest. The late night funnyman has a decade-long history with awards shows from co-hosting the 2001 MTV Movie Awards to his hilarious T-Pain-style moment as a presenter at the 2009 Emmys. Now, let's look back at some of the Emmy nominee's funniest award show promos, song parodies and more with the video slideshow below. Clicking the arrow in the lower right corner will open a full-screen version.

Attention, rock stars: When Jimmy Fallon introduces you on his chat show as "one of the most legendary and influential musicians of all time," apparently you've got the run of the place. At least that's the message suggested by Prince's appearance Friday on "Late Night," where the Purple One dropped by to perform two songs, including his killer garage-rock single "Screwdriver. " It's one of a handful of tunes Prince is selling through a recently launched website, 3rdeyegirl.com , named after his new all-lady backing band.

Jimmy Fallon has been crowned the next king of late-night television, but the empire he will inherit has seen better days. "Late Night" host Fallon, who will succeed Jay Leno in "The Tonight Show" chair in 2014, is charged with trying to reenergize a franchise that has lost much of its luster as viewers flock to cable television and the Internet for entertainment. Once an appearance on "The Tonight Show" could turn an unknown into a star overnight. Now a video on YouTube can do that.

Conan O'Brien is airing his grievances to Chelsea Handler ... in the shower. In a Wednesday sketch on Handler's "Chelsea Lately" to celebrate her 1,081st episode, O'Brien sneaks into the "Lately" staff showers to reclaim what was his: his parking spot and studio. "This is my studio. You stole it, remember. I still have the key. Plus, this is the best water pressure in Hollywood," he says. Photos: Classic 'Tonight Show' moments Chandler's E! talk show took over O'Brien's old "Tonight Show" studio on the Universal lot last year.