Here's the official word, courtesy of NBC °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ' tweets:
-- " : Jay Leno will depart NBC's 'Tonight Show' in Spring 2014; Jimmy Fallon to replace, NBC says."
-- " : 'Tonight Show' will return to New York City in 2014; Lorne Michaels will be executive producer."
As , the "late-night wars are so boring." Still, , The Tonight Show is "the most storied and successful program in late-night television." And this will return the show to where it started — New York.
Oh, and this time the change is for good, Leno insists. In 2009, you'll recall, he left for prime time. The . After eight months, O'Brien left the network and Leno headed back to late night. ( Correction at 5:10 a.m. ET, April 4: Earlier, based on information from the Times, we were incorrect about how long O'Brien hosted the show; we've corrected the time reference.)
But, Leno tells the Times:
"The main difference between this and the other time is I'm part of the process. The last time the decision was made without me. I came into work one day and — you're out. ... [Now] there really aren't any complications like there were the last time. ... This time it feels right."
The Jay-to-Jimmy switch has been talked about for weeks, of course. Last night, the two funnymen .
Update at 1:50 p.m. ET: We're adding a question (it's not a scientific survey of public opinion, by the way).
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