Friday Night Bites

According to an unimpeachable source–so you know it’s not Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton–Jimmy Fallon sent a passle of pizzas to the staff of ABC’s This Week last Friday (Aug. 6). I originally reported Jimmy Kimmel, but was corrected by ABC. It was not the source who got it wrong, but me, though I am sure they wouldn’t mind getting a slice or two from the other Jimmy.

The source was not clear on the motivation, but offered a couple of possibilities. One was that it was an edible congratulations on the show’s first week under new host Christiane Amanour. Aug. 1 was Amanpour’s first outing atop the show that had been hosted by George Stephanopoulos before he was tapped for Good Morning America.

The other suggestion was that it was an effort to boost Fallon’s chances of making This Week’s “Sunday Funnies” segment featuring the political comedy highlights from the previous week’s late night shows.

I don’t know if it was the pizza, but Fallon made this week’s This Week funnies segment, though so did the pizza-less other Jimmy.

But whether kudo or bribe (or perhaps a bit of both), it was the first mass pizza gifting from a late night host that one longtime ABC News staffer could remember.