TCA: Jimmy Fallon's Late Night to Launch Online

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon will test out material online, months in advance of the show's debut on NBC, executive producer Lorne Michaels said.

By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/21/2008 12:02:00 AM

Beverly Hills -- Late Night with Jimmy Fallon will test out material online, months in advance of the show's debut on NBC, executive producer Lorne Michaels said.

"Beginning it on the Internet for five or six months before it goes on will give us a chance to find the show," Michaels said.

While Michaels was mum on the details, he said the content would likely be five- or 10-minute segments and would probably not include celebrity interviews, but rather sketches and comedy bits.

"I thought it would be interesting to find what the show will look and sound like," Michaels said. "Let Jimmy do stuff you can't normally do on television."

Michaels added that the segments would go online sometime in the fall, in advance of a likely spring debut for Fallon’s show. He hasn't decided what outlets would host the clips.

Michaels spoke very highly of putting material online, saying that the audience it opens is up is incredibly valuable.

"That work just sort of ricochets around, people watching it all over the world," he added.

In addition, Michaels said Late Night will likely leave its home of 27 years, Studio 6A, instead moving next door to Studio 6B, which had been used by NBC News.

With the centralization of NBC News in 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Studio 6B opened up and was renovated by the company. The move would allow Fallon to begin his show immediately after O'Brien's ends, resulting in a temporary lineup of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno followed by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Michaels also encouraged his new host to start building an audience in person, saying, "I asked Jimmy to go out and do some standup."

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