The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon has already been renewed but viewers will see fewer original episodes this year. Like many other late-night shows in recent years, the NBC series has shifted to a four-night-a-week schedule. The Friday night timeslot will be filled by reruns.
Deadline revealed the following about the move to cut Friday episodes by NBC:
“The move is believed to be driven by cost-cutting, which also was behind the decision to drop Late Night’s house band earlier this summer.
The Tonight Show had been airing original episodes Monday-Friday during the regular season, doing two tapings on Thursday, while switching to Monday-Thursday first-run shows during the summer. The off-season schedule will now carry over to the rest of the year. The Tonight Show team were informed by the change yesterday, sources said.
It’s worth noting that ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, CBS’ Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers had already stopped making new episodes for Friday nights.
NBC announced in June that The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon will remain on the air at least through 2028. The series celebrated its 10th anniversary earlier this year.
Jimmy Kimmel on the late night group text congratulating Jimmy Fallon for getting an extra day off and how “late night is dead” | Creative Arts #Emmys pic.twitter.com/dNG9mPE2R6
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) September 8, 2024
What do you think? Are you surprised by the move to cancel new Friday night episodes of The Tonight Show? Do you watch live late-night episodes or clips after they air?