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DiggLeno's end, Conan's start dated
By Tim Surette - TV.comNBC executives finally reveal exact date the changing of the guard will occur on The Tonight Show.
Jay Leno is leaving The Tonight Show, and taking over for him will be Conan O'Brien. That much was well known. What wasn't well known was exactly when O'Brien would be settling into his new post on the West Coast.
Leno is out next May.
Previously, all NBC would say was that Leno would leave the late-night talk show in 2009. But today, NBC executives finally spilled the beans on a more specific date.
Leno will host his last The Tonight Show on May 29, 2009, according to the network. O'Brien begins his new reign on June 1, and will do so from a new location--Universal Studios--rather than the old Burbank Studios Leno hosted from.
O'Brien will host his last Late Night sometime in the first quarter of 2009.
Taking over O'Brien's spot on Late Night will be Saturday Night Live alum Jimmy Fallon, who will test out his format online before bringing it to prime time, says The Hartford Courant. The online version of the show will begin this fall before premiering on television in March or April.
Leno's future has been up in the air for some time now, but the host should have no problems finding a new job. ABC has been rumored as a potential destination for him, but he may not even get that far. At the TCA press tour today, NBC execs said Leno leaving NBC wasn't a foregone conclusion, and that the two parties may be able to work something out.
