Word that "Late Night" host Jimmy Fallon will take over "The Tonight Show" from Jay Leno has created quite a stir among many people -- but Fallon isn't one of them.
Despite being at the center of speculation, Fallon tells GQ [4] magazine that he's not particularly engrossed by the possibility of filling Leno's shoes. He greeted writer Jeanne Marie Laskas' inquiry on the topic with a rhetorical, "Who really cares?"
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"I mean, in the nicest way, who really cares?" Fallon told Laskas. "In the nicest way ... It would be great, sure, I guess. I'd love it, but it's not on my mind. I'm in no rush to do anything. I'm kind of a boring character in that book. I'm not in a fight with Jay or Conan [O'Brien, who briefly succeeded Leno as "The Tonight Show" host], or any of them. I don't have that story."
Fallon also briefly addressed the reports at the top of his "Late Night" monologue Wednesday night, in a casual, joking manner.
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"Before we get started, I have to talk about the rumors that came out today which say I'll be moving up to 11:30 -- or as my parents call it, 'Eh, still too late,'" Fallon cracked. "Actually, the rumors are true -- NBC is turning 'The Tonight Show' into a diving competition."
That last line could be interpreted as an oblique wisecrack about the network's ratings -- a topic that Leno has mined laughs out of lately -- but Fallon went on to discuss ABC's new reality show "Splash," which premiered this week to encouraging ratings. (Fallon also worked in a fat joke at the expense of "Splash" contestant Louie Anderson.)
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While Fallon is so far content to dance around the topic with wisecracks and verbal shrugs, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" host Jimmy Kimmel -- an exceptionally vocal critic of Leno's -- tells newly minted CNN host Jake Tapper during Thursday's "The Lead With Jake Tapper" that NBC is "obviously" looking to ditch Leno.
" I mean, well, obviously, NBC is looking to move on, because they did it once already," Kimmel tells Tapper. "This would be the second time that this has happened. So I mean, it makes perfect sense. And Jimmy Fallon is doing a great job. And he’s very popular. And so, I mean, hey, eventually, it’s going to happen one way or the other."
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So far, NBC has been tightlipped about any potential "Tonight Show" succession plans.
But New York Times writer Bill Carter -- who has chronicled late night shakeups for two decades -- reported Wednesday that the network plans to install Fallon in fall 2014, and move the show back to its original home, New York City, and a new studio in NBC's headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.