With NBC on the verge of bringing its biggest primetime series back in the 2024 TV schedule, the network has made a big decision about the future of its flagship late night talk show. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is having one episode cut per week, matching what NBC had done with Seth Meyers' Late Night already. That doesn't mean Fallon is going anywhere, though.
NBC's Major Cut For The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon previously aired five new episodes per week, with only the weekends off, but Variety now reports that NBC is cutting that total down to four new episodes per week. New installments will continue airing at 11:35 p.m. ET Monday - Thursday on the network. The move isn't entirely shocking; NBC not only already airs Late Night with Seth Meyers four nights per week, but recently cut Late Night's budget to remove the house band.
Other networks have made similar decisions as well. Over on CBS, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is down to four nights a week, as is Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC. Kimmel recently addressed retirement, which comes not too long after he spoke about the future of late night TV.
Cable late night shows aren't unaffected either; The Daily Show doesn't air new episodes on Fridays, although that's not a new development for the Comedy Central mainstay. NBC will air reruns of The Tonight Show on Fridays in Fallon's usual time slot.
What The Future Holds For Jimmy Fallon
While there may be less new content with Jimmy Fallon per week moving forward, the host himself isn't going anywhere. Back in June, he renewed his deal with NBCUniversal to stay on as host of The Tonight Show through 2028. So, he won't be turning 50 the same year that SNL turns 50 just to leave the network's post-primetime lineup. Seth Meyers also renewed his deal for Late Night through 2028, so NBC is sticking with what evidently works... just less of it per week.
Fallon also has separate gigs on NBC to keep him busy. He executive produces and frequently appears on Password and hosts That's My Jam. It's also possible that cutting a Friday broadcast won't feel too different for him, as The Tonight Show often would tape two episodes on Thursday rather than a new episode on Friday.
At the time of writing, it's not clear when precisely the change to exclusively reruns on Fridays will take place, although it's likely to begin with the fall season. The series is already airing repeats all five days of the week to close out the summer. Jimmy Fallon celebrated his ten-year anniversary as The Tonight Show host back in May with a two-hour primetime special.
For now, you can find Fallon in nightly reruns of The Tonight Show on weeknights starting at 11:35 p.m. ET on NBC. You can also revisit earlier episodes streaming via a Peacock Premium subscription now.