Jimmy Fallon explains why he abandoned the opening credits of "The Tonight Show" (EXCLUSIVE)



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Fans of "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" may have noticed that the house band The Roots has much less to play at the beginning of the night program now. The NBC's late-night show quietly dropped its opening credits a few months ago, giving way to a quick intro from announcer Steve Higgins, to some "hey-hey-hey-hey" bars from The Roots, then The Fallon Monologue.

The decision to abandon the first match is the most notable change made so far in "The Tonight Show" since former executive producer of "Today" Jim Bell has been named showrunner in October. Fallon said Variety that the idea of ​​extracting the opener was inspired by the "skip the introduction" feature of Netflix, which allows viewers to bypbad the opening credits of an episode of the series and get started directly in the action.

But this is also clearly an attempt to retain more viewers since entering the local news as the war of late night ratings warms up again. For the television season 2018-2019, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" had a considerable lead in total viewership, with 3.82 million (2.44 million). Both shows are tied for adults aged 18 to 49 (score of 0.5). "Late Show" has a low lead on "Tonight" in adults aged 25 to 54 (0.8 vs. 0.7), which is also a demonstration of the news – so maybe NBC thinks that any additional viewer feels that everything they can gain in transition from local news helps.

The original opening sequence of "The Tonight Show," directed by Spike Lee, features Fallon and various New York landmarks. She has been part of Fallon's "Tonight" show since its launch in 2014.

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The roots of the show tonight

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JIMMY FALLON'S TONIGHT SHOW – Episode 0630 – Pictured: Charlie Wilson attends The Roots on February 23, 2017 – (Photo: Andrew Lipovsky / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

THE TONIGHT SHOW FROM JIMMY FALLON – Episode 0622 – Pictured: (right) Ahmir & # 39; Questlove & # 39; Thompson and Tariq? A black thought? Trotter of The Roots during the Freestyle Tour on February 10, 2017 – (Photo: Andrew Lipovsky / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

THE TONIGHT SHOW FROM JIMMY FALLON – Episode 0599 – Pictured: (right) Ahmir & # 39; Questlove & # 39; Thompson and Tariq? A black thought? Trotter of The Roots on January 10, 2017 – (Photo: Andrew Lipovsky / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON – Episode 0589 – Pictured: (right) Damon's Tuba Gooding Jr. & # 39; Bryson, James & Kamal & # 39; Gray, Dave Guy, Ian Handrickson-Smith, Mark Kelley, James Poyser, Kirk's Captain Kirk & # 39; Douglas, Frank & # 39; Knuckles & # 39; Walker, Ahmir & # 39; Questlove & # 39; Thompson and Tariq & # 39; Black Thought & # 39; of Trotter of the Roots occur December 12, 2016 – (Photo: Andrew Lipovsky / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

THE TONIGHT SHOW FROM JIMMY FALLON – Episode 0547 – Pictured: Singer Olivia Newton-John with The Roots on October 4, 2016 – (Photo: Andrew Lipovsky / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON – Episode 0535 – Pictured: The musical guest Miley Cyrus performs with The Roots on September 16, 2016 – (Photo: Andrew Lipovsky / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON – Episode 0512 – Pictured: Actor Leslie Odom Jr. performs with The Roots on August 1, 2016 – (Photo: Andrew Lipovsky / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

THE TONIGHT SHOW AT JIMMY FALLON – Episode 0519 – Pictured: James Valentine with The Roots on August 24th 2016 – (Photo: Andrew Lipovsky / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON – Episode 0463 – Pictured: Rapper Lecrae performs with The Roots on May 3, 2016 – (Photo: Andrew Lipovsky / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

THE TONIGHT SHOW FROM JIMMY FALLON – Episode 0459 – Pictured: Kirk & Captain Kirk & # 39; Douglas from The Roots plays on April 27, 2016 – (Photo: Andrew Lipovsky / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)




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"You do not have [the ‘skip intro’ button] on the TV network, "said Fallon," so you have to watch this every night, and you go, I understand, Jimmy Fallon is going out. "We've got it, you're in New York and you order a hot dog. "

The idea, he said, is simple: "Go to comedy, go to comedy. [Viewers are] I will listen at 11:35 and I want you to be funny. "Give me the jokes, what's happening in the world. Give me the headlines. What does the president do? What is the new pop culture about? Show me a viral video and let's go! Entertain me, I'm tired. I worked all day! I do not need to see you go through New York! I understood it! "

The change was however sacrificed to the catchy theme song "Tonight Show," which Roots and Fallon revealed at a panel at the Paley Center in 2017, was created from the exceptional music that the band had written during their first participation in "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" In 2009. Fallon chooses this melody among several choices to become his signature of the theme "Tonight Show".

"Literally, the first song we wrote ended up being the theme" Tonight Show ", the song" Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey ", which is weird because when you asked us to create a new theme" Tonight Show, "we did about 20 other compositions," said Fallon's Questlove of The Roots on the panel.

The intro also included a moment when Questlove was shouting the episode number of Tonight's Tonight Show.

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Jimmy Fallon through the years

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THE TONIGHT SHOW AT JIMMY FALLON – Episode 0289 – In the photo: Host Jimmy Fallon in the July 13, 2015 monologue – (Photo: Douglas Gorenstein / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, USA: Actress Kirsten Dunst (left) and her fiancé Jimmy Fallon train with an accessory at the MTV Movie Awards 2001 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, June 2, 2001. AFP PHOTO / Lucy Nicholson (Photo credit should read LUCY NICHOLSON / AFP / Getty Images)

Jimmy Fallon and Mary Louise Parker behind the scenes of the MTV Rock & Comedy concert at the Battery Park in New York on 5/10/02. The concert was organized as part of the first Tribeca Film Festival. Photo of Frank Micelotta / ImageDirect.

Comedian Jimmy Fallon performs at MTV Tribeca's television and rock concert at Battery Park in New York. May 10, 2002. Photo of Frank Micelotta / ImageDirect

Jimmy Fallon jokes with and dresses the same way as animator Carson Daly on TRL at MTV Studios in New York. Jimmy will host this year's Video Music Awards live from Radio City Music Hall on August 29th. 8/14/02 Photo by Scott Gries / ImageDirect

NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: Actors Jimmy Fallon and Maya Rudolph attend the Marc Jacobs Fall / Winter 2003 Fashion Show at 26th Street Armory during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week on February 10, 2003 in New York City. (Photo by Evan Agostini / Getty Images)

NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 23: (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER OUT, US TABS OUT) Jimmy Fallon arrives at the BMG Post-Grammy Gala to celebrate the 45th Annual Grammy Awards at Gotham Hall on February 23, 2003. (Photo by Mark Mainz / Getty Images)

HOUSTON – FEBRUARY 1: Actor Jimmy Fallon poses at the MTV TRL Super Bowl edition at Reliant Park in Houston, Texas on February 1, 2004. (Photo by Frank Micelotta / Getty Images)

CULVER CITY, CA – JUNE 5: (US TABLOIDS OUT) (GD) Actor Jimmy Fallon and actress / singer Queen Latifah laugh backstage at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards at the Sony Pictures Studios June 5, 2004 in Culver City, California. The 2004 MTV Movie Awards will be broadcast on the MTV network on June 10, 2004 at 9 pm (ET / PT). (Photo by Frank Micelotta / Getty Images)

HOLLYWOOD – DECEMBER 8: Actor Jimmy Fallon arrives at the premiere of Warner Bros. from the movie 'Ocean & # 39; s Twelve & # 39; at the Grauman's Chinese Theater on December 8, 2004 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci / Getty Images)

Actors Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon participate in MTV's Total Request Live show on April 5, 2005 in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini / Getty Images)

Producer Nancy Juvonen (left) and actor Jimmy Fallon arrive for the premiere of the movie "Music and Lyrics". in Los Angeles, California, February 7, 2007. (Photo deserves to read ROBYN BECK / AFP / Getty Images)

NEW YORK – JUNE 4: Actor Jimmy Fallon attends Columbia Pictures' screening of "You're not joking with the Zohan" on June 4, 2008 at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York. (Photo by Rob Loud / Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 29: Host Jimmy Fallon speaks at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theater L.A. Live on August 29, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 28: Jimmy Fallon, a television personality, attends the Alec Baldwin Museum's tribute to the animated image at Cipriani 42nd Street on February 28, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images)

THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON – Season: 1 – Pictured: Host, Jimmy Fallon – (Photo: James White / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

THE TONIGHT SHOW FROM JIMMY FALLON – Episode 0001 – In the photo: Host, Jimmy Fallon, February 17, 2014 – (Photo by: Lloyd Bishop / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)




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The new protocol also means that guests of the night are not immediately announced, until Fallon presents them later in the monologue.

Shortly after the change, a fan launched a petition on Change.org to "bring back the intro of the old" Tonight Show ". Only 43 people have already signed, and one viewer admitted that she was missing "the old vibrations of the old intro had."

A late-night observer noted that the decision to remove the intro to safely pbad late local news to Fallon's monologue came straight from the NBC book. The Peabad Network launched its internal "NBC 2000" initiative in the late 1990s to reduce the number of first theme songs, reduce credits and allow an immediate transition from one show to the other without a break. advertising. The goal was to prevent the public from changing channels.

"They have a whole department at NBC that says," What can we do to catch people before they change channels? ", Said the insider." What are some exit opportunities for the main audience, and if we could catch them right away at local news, we could possibly save a tenth of a score. "That seems to me quite that. "

Local news remains a strong source for late-night programming and, in most major markets, NBC-owned stations outperform CBS channels in late-release news, likely giving "Tonight" an edge. Show". (ABC stations dominate major markets.)

Fallon said that change remains an experience. "We try, we are always ready to try new things and we always love all new ideas," he said. "There is always a way to change things and move in the right direction and see."

And indeed, it is not new for late-night shows to experience a change in shape. NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" finally began opening its episodes. Meyers sat at his desk, ready to hit the headlines – rather than the curtain stand, preferred by most guests. Colbert has adopted a more political humor, while Conan O'Brien has completely reorganized his show from one hour to half an hour.

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