Jimmy Fallon didn’t want Late Night, but Lorne Michaels had other ideas
NBC didn't want Jimmy Fallon either, but Lorne Michaels had other ideas
Aux News Jimmy Fallon
If you or a loved one have had your life ruined or your dreams crushed by Jimmy Fallon and his “erratic” workplace behavior, you may be entitled to financial (or at least emotional) compensation. If the Tonight Show host won’t fork that over himself, you could try bringing your concerns to the source of it all: Lorne Michaels.
Fallon owes both stages of his television career to the Saturday Night Live creator. In a new episode of the “Strike Force Five” podcast (via The Hollywood Reporter), Fallon revealed that it was Michaels who “went to bat” to get him his first hosting gig, despite the fact that he didn’t really want it at first.
While Fallon initially saw himself going the film route after his six-year tenure on SNL, Michaels knew Conan O’Brien was considering leaving Late Night and presumably knew the perfect guffaw to fill the space. “He goes, ‘Would you ever want to do a talk show?’” Fallon said. “I go, ‘I don’t think so… In six years, ask me, and if I’m around I’ll think about it.’”
Michaels did just that, but it was Fallon’s wife who pushed him to take the offer. “‘You have to take this job. You’re one of three human beings to ever do this,’” Fallon recalls her saying.
He continued: “So, I call Lorne, and I go, ‘I’m in. I’d love to do it.’ He goes, ‘Great. NBC doesn’t really want you. But we have to talk to them.’” Fallon also noted that he wasn’t even on NBC’s list at the time (he hadn’t really been in any movies and still didn’t have great name recognition), but Michaels still “went to bat” for him, telling the network “‘either you do this with Jimmy, or I’m not involved,’ or something like that.”
Fallon would go on to host Late Night from 2009 to 2014 before landing at The Tonight Show the same year.
38 Comments
Meh. I’ve never really been bothered by Fallon, I just don’t watch his show. Lorne Michaels, on the other hand, can fuck right off.
Yep. Dude’s…definitely a starfucker coasting off of one good idea and a negligible body of actual comedic output, alright…
Woketards should have cancelled SNL right after Donnie hosted or atleast after mass murderer Dave Chappelle hosted!
(he hadn’t really been in any movies and still didn’t have great name recognition)Breaking the streak of famous movie stars hosting Late Night.
Hey, would you like to buy a monkey?
This was after Letterman’s long Late Night run. Also, that’s clearly his doppelgänger, Earl Hofert.
Yet another reason to not like Lorne Michaels. Pretty much it’s Kids In The Hall and a handful of SNL actors that keep Michaels from being utterly irredeemable
Michaels was the EP of Miracle Workers on TBS. He gets a big pass from me for doing that.
Lorne’s Broadway Video was only involved due to his being owed a piece of any of Simon Rich’s projects under Rich’s SNL writing contract. Ever since Adam Sandler became a multimillionaire post-SNL entirely withOUT Michaels involvement, he’s locked up his SNL performers and writers future projects like a remora and gets fees and passive payments on all of them. He doesn’t deserve this pass from you.
he’s locked up his SNL performers and writers future projects like a remora and gets fees and passive payments on all of them.Can you really make someone your indentured servant for life like that?Shades of L. Ron Hubbard’s billion year SeaOrg contracts.
If that’s true, how did Rich write An American Pickle without his involvement?
He definitely sucks now, but the guy is responsible for the biggest comedy institution in America. Over 5 decades of minting comedy superstars, minus 5 years which most people consider to be the nadir of the show.He’s responsible for the careers of so many legends, many of whom probably wouldn’t be where they are now without him. Conan O’Brien wouldn’t have the career he does today without Lorne’s help.I agree that now he’s a lazy boring old man who’s politics are just rich guy bullshit, but most other guys like him aren’t responsible for anywhere near as much good stuff.
Conan I forgot to add. He gets a full pass through gritted teeth for giving me the Kids In The Hall and that handful of SNL ppl. He’s been checked out to comedy quality since Sandler and his misfit bros took over. And since Wayne’s World, it’s been a cash grab at the merch table. He has been trying to crassly exploit and monetize SNL recurring characters for more than three decades.
Subsequent stars, as the public receives them, have been somewhat incidental or indirect to his involvement. He tried to make Coneheads a thing again and (thud). He tried to make Roxbury a thing (bad enough) and (thud). Wiig, Sandler, Ferrell, and especially Hader mostly just started with him and succeeded separately, or in Hader’s case, almost in spite of, Michaels. Qualitatively, anyway.
The comedy “superstars” thing is really the tail wagging the dog most of the time. Fallon being a prime example. He wasn’t anything to anyone, by his own admission, until he was kinda forced into the role.
I just don’t like or respect the dude, nor SNL as some institution that holds sway over comedy, and I think my reasons are solid. Once again, I owe him for KITH and some parts of SNL, but that’s it. Everything else crumbles under scrutiny with me.
I’m not sure he’s checked out, so much as out of touch. But over a 50 year career, some stuff is gonna crumble. Has anyone else had such an impact in 50 years, though?
Over 5 decades of minting comedy superstars, minus 5 years which most people consider to be the nadir of the show.
The problem is that the show sucks in talented people and wastes their time and talents on garbage. We’d be better served as comedy fans if SNL weren’t there and these talented people could work on much better projects.
I don’t think they would have the opportunities to do other stuff if they didn’t get their foot in the door with SNL. We definitely wouldn’t have more niche stuff like Portlandia or Documentary now if there weren’t ex-SNL guys behind them. But at the same time, would Kristen Wiig have been given the opportunity to make Bridesmaids if she hadn’t been on the show?SNL is also a good place to hone your craft. Do you think if Tim Robinson had made I Think You Should Leave ten years ago instead of writing for SNL that it would be as good? I don’t. SNL is a great place to fail in an ensemble, so you don’t have to fall flat on your face alone.
Second City, UCB, and the Groundlings are all great places to hone your craft in an ensemble. And there’s no reason to think that, in a world without SNL, people like Wiig and Armison and Hader wouldn’t have made their name with better comedy projects before proceeding to niche shows and movies.
The clout you get from being on SNL is a big deal. It opens a lot of doors. I’m sure Wiig Hader and Armisen would still be working, but I don’t think their level of success was guaranteed by their talent alone. The percentage of successful former SNL stars compared to any other group is proof of that. There are just so many connections you make when you’re on that show that would take years to do somewhere else. Lorne Michaels alone can set you up as a late night host for the next three decades.
I understand that Lorne Michaels has just about monopolized North American comedy. Indeed, that’s a huge part of what I’m complaining about. My point is that people could still do comedy and be successful in a more multipolar environment (perhaps one more like UK comedy), rather than one in which a mediocre sketch comedy show and its starfucker impresario come to dominate everything for goddamn half a century—and the comedy they’d be doing would would likely be much much better.
The biggest thing is always going to be something bland with mass appeal. People can either play the game and do their time on it, or try to go it alone. There will always be a bigger guarantee of success from playing the game. I don’t think a lack of Lorne Michaels would make popular comedy any better.
Well duh. Fallon obviously didn’t get there based on his own talent or writing. I do enjoy how their “Strike Force Five” podcast has turned into about 50% of the laughs in some of the episodes being the other four guys low-key busting on how stupid Fallon is, over and over again. (Especially after that one episode where he wrote those idiotic questions.) And the other 50% is them just running rings around him, comedically.
It is really striking (no pun intended) how the other four are just riffing and enjoying the experience of trying to make other funny people laugh while Fallon is clearly struggling to follow what’s happening and brings the rhythm of the jokes to a screeching halt when he does manage to interject. It’s the comedy equivalent of watching a college basketball player who thinks he’s hot shit getting absolutely destroyed in a one-on-one game against a legit NBA superstar.
So he’s like Shaq on Inside the NBA.God I wish somebody’d offer him a show I don’t watch.
Yup. Dead-on.
Fallon’s lucky the woketards didnt cancel him for rubbin Donnie’s hair and gettin him into the White House
I recently read Bill Carter’s book on Leno v. Conan, and Lorne Michaels plays a supporting role in that story, since he has a say who ends up on late night at NBC.
The part that really struck me was Lorne describing a conversation he had with the Head of Entertainment at NBC when he first left SNL in 1979. Lorne was burnt out fighting with the network and wanted to move on. The suit said this to him…
“Your show is a certain length and has a certain budget. Nowhere in your contract does it say that the show has to be good.”
I feel Lorne took that to heart. It’s like his villain origin story. It doesn’t matter if it’s good, only if people are watching and we all keep our jobs.
On the Inside Conan podcast, the 6/24/2022 and 8/2/2023 episodes are Conan and Jeff Ross talking about getting the late night show. As you can imagine, Lorne’s name comes up a lot. They are great episodes to listen to
(he hadn’t really been in any movies and still didn’t have great name recognition) I’d argue that’s a good thing when it comes to a nightly host. I’m not sure the daily format would hold up as well if the host is a bigger celebrity than half the guests. The guests are the core of the show, so it’s probably best to have a host they can upstage.
Did anyone else hear those quotes in your head with Michaels’ voice?
I imagine every Michael Lorne quote being read by Dr. Evil.
Michaels did just that, but it was Fallon’s wife who pushed him to take
the offer. “‘You have to take this job. You’re one of three human beings
to ever do this,’” Fallon recalls her saying.
Well either his wife or Fallon are wrong. He is the 6th host of the tonight show
The quote is about how she convinced Fallon to host Late Night, which at that point had only had David Letterman and Conan O’Brian as hosts. Tonight Show came later.
Ah! Good point!
It’s kind of obnoxious how The A. V. Club’s presentation of things makes his wife sound like an idiot for no good reason.
Maybe his wife just really wanted him out of the house.
I mean, that tracks.
And together they made Trump president!
We really didn’t want the current shitty state of the A.V. Club, but Lorne Michaels had other ideas.