Ten gone, forever! Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday he will celebrate 10 years as host of Tonight’s programand he’s marking the milestone by sitting down with ET for a retrospective.
The 49-year-old late-night TV host is looking back at some of his most iconic moments in a storied career that began long before he burst into the national spotlight when he joined Saturday night live as a cast member in 1998. ET was there with him — well before he was discovered — when he performed at Improv for Mary Hart’s 15th anniversary party.
Fast forward to now, Fallon has become a household name and synonymous with laughter. He was named host of Tonight’s program in 2014, and he’s risen to the challenge of eclipsing the late Johnny Carson as the longest-running host of the iconic late-night series.
“Well, it’s 10 years. Johnny is 30, so I still have 20 more years to go,” Fallon joked. “I feel really good. I still love what I do. I love talking to people. I feel like it’s getting even more fun because I grew up with these people now and I’ve seen them – their ups and downs. I’ve seen bad boyfriends. I’ve seen bad boyfriends. good, I saw them get married and have children and the children grow up. Tonight’s program, and I would love to continue more and keep making more memories and making more friends. It really is a dream come true.”
To commemorate the momentous occasion, Fallon will host an NBC primetime special celebrating its 10th anniversary. In your first Tonight’s program monologue, Fallon remembers when he was a kid and asked his parents if he could stay up late to watch Carson’s monologue before going to bed. Sometimes he said he would slide to the side so his parents wouldn’t know he was still there, all to see the first guest.
And here he is now, the face of an iconic NBC franchise.
“I’m very lucky, again, with Tonight’s program. Good things keep happening on the show, and I just want to keep it rolling, make sure everyone has fun,” he said. “Our goal of the show is to make people laugh and make people happy, and if I can do that as long as I can, that will be the best for me.”
During his tenure, Fallon produced countless unforgettable moments. Like in 2015, when Tom Cruise faced Fallon in an epic lip sync battle. Cruise, at the time, chose a current chart-topper for his first selection, landing in style with The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face.”
“I mean, come on. Tom Cruise practiced this for five hours this day,” Fallon recalled. “I wasn’t allowed in the studio because he’s such a perfectionist and I didn’t want to know.”
Of your memorable Saturday night live sketches to land the role of “camera guy #2” in Revolving city meeting his future wife, Nancy Juvonen, and the mother of his two children while filming the 2005 sports romantic comedy Fever stepFallon was captivated by the fact that ET was there from the beginning.
“ET has always been by my side my entire career. You were there before I even did anything. I’m honored. This is a wild trip down memory lane,” he said. “I’m lucky. I’m surrounded by great people, people who support me, who make me look good and make me funny, they write great jokes. I have the best crew, the best crew, the best camera operators, the best audio, hair , makeup and wardrobe. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.
NBC on Tuesday will air a two-hour special at 9 p.m. ET to celebrate Fallon’s 10th anniversary as host of Tonight’s program.
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