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Credit: UniversalWill Jimmy Fallon be removed from Universal once again? Recent drama with the late-night talk show host suggests it is possible.
Jimmy Fallon is enjoying more three-day weekends.
The Tonight Show will no longer film new episodes on Fridays, cutting its production schedule to four days a week, according to Entertainment Weekly. The show, which has followed a four-day schedule throughout the summer, will continue airing new episodes on Monday through Thursday, with reruns scheduled for Fridays.
Late-night programming has faced challenges in recent years due to shifting viewer habits. At CBS, The Late Late Show ended after James Corden’s departure, replaced by the lower-cost comedic game show After Midnight. Earlier this year, budget cuts at NBC led to Late Night with Seth Meyers losing its house band.
Despite these changes, NBC renewed its contract with Fallon in June, securing The Tonight Show on the network through 2028. Fallon, who became the show’s sixth host in 2014 after Jay Leno’s second exit, follows a legacy that includes Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Leno, and Conan O’Brien. Fallon previously hosted Late Night before transitioning to The Tonight Show from 2009 to 2014.
As we reported, this comes after Fallon was recently exposed for toxic behavior in the workplace:
Multiple employees alleged that the show’s production schedule was split into “good Jimmy days” and “bad Jimmy days,” with the host allegedly displaying both erratic behavior and drunkenness.
“It was like, if Jimmy is in a bad mood, everyone’s day is fucked,” one former employee told the publication. “People wouldn’t joke around in the office, and they wouldn’t stand around and talk to each other. It was very much like, focus on whatever it is that you have to do because Jimmy’s in a bad mood, and if he sees that, he might fly off.”
Revised sentence: In an all-hands Zoom call, Fallon apologized to his staff after the report was published, expressing embarrassment and regret for the negative impact on his employees and their families.
At the Universal theme parks, Fallon holds a large role but since the drama unfolded, that role has indeed been diminished. Months ago, Inside the Magic confirmed that the massive Jimmy Fallon sign that welcomed guests as they walked toward The Universal Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood was removed.
Jimmy Fallon has a unique connection with Universal Studios theme parks, starring in his own attraction at Universal Studios Florida. The ride, “Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon,” is a motion-simulator experience that has received mixed reviews, with some guests expressing a preference for more traditional attractions.
The ride replaced “Twister…Ride It Out” in 2017, which was a cult-favorite, leaving many Universal guests upset.
The ride itself is not very popular, and there is quite a low wait time. With many guests not enjoying the fact that this is a screen-based theater attraction, the past allegations and Fallon’s show reduction could hint at more changes coming to Universal Studios Florida in the future. That being said, nothing has been said regarding the ride closing or being replaced.
The change isn’t uncommon for late-night TV — The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Daily Show, and Late Night with Seth Meyers all produce just four new episodes per week. In fact, Fallon’s show was the exception for maintaining a five-day schedule for as long as it did.
Jimmy Kimmel shared a playful text he sent to Jimmy Fallon after learning that an episode of Fallon’s late-night show was cut from the schedule.
Speaking on Saturday, Kimmel revealed that all the late-night hosts have a group chat, where they congratulated Fallon on the news.
“As a group, we have a text chain of all the late-night hosts, and we sent our congratulations to Jimmy Fallon for getting Fridays off,” Kimmel said at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Addressing speculation about the future of talk shows, Kimmel humorously added, “There is no future for late-night.”
Are you a fan of late-night talk shows? Do you think it is a dying show style?