After much speculation, NBC made it official Sunday: Seth Meyers will take over for Jimmy Fallon as host of Late Night. Meyers, the head writer on Saturday Night Live and Weekend Update anchor will transition into his new role sometime next year. Fallon is moving up one hour and replacing Jay Leno at the Tonight Show next spring. The New York Times notes that the appointment “had been widely expected.”
Meyers emphasized it was still too early to say whether the show will change under his leadership. “I don’t want to make any broad pronouncements about how the show is going to be, whether it’s going to be the same or different,” Meyers said. “But I have to draw on my background in improvisational comedy and sketch comedy and stand-up comedy and try to find some mix of that.”
The move means that NBC’s late-night lineup will be filled with SNL alums. Fallon was also a performer on the show and, like Meyers, anchored Weekend Update. This is Meyers’12th season as an SNL cast member and his eighth as head writer, points out Deadline.
“We think Seth is one of the brightest, most insightful comedy writers and performers of his generation. His years at SNL’s Weekend Update desk, not to mention being head writer of the show for many seasons, helped him hone a topical brand of comedy that is perfect for the Late Night franchise,” NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt said.
