Jimmy Fallon's Ratings On The Tonight Show Stumble - Chaos And Worry On The Backend

Source: NYP.com

Jimmy Fallon first sparked the ire of the entertainment industry when he had President Donald Trump on his show and tousled his hair in front of millions of people, without grilling him about his incendiary remarks.

Since 2016, Jimmy’s show, The Tonight Show, hasn’t been getting the rating that producers would like to see, and some think it’s because of his non-offensive and non-political style of humor, which ironically, has been his style ever since he took the role as host of the show.

According to a report from Page Six, insiders close to the production said to the outlet that there is “turmoil” in the high-ranking leadership roles on the production of The Tonight Show. Reportedly, Fallon’s series has fallen behind Stephen Colbert in full-season ratings for the first time.

Once it was revealed that Stephen Colbert was beating him, possibly due to his topical and politically charged humor, producers chose to bring on the Today show veteran, Jim Bell, as the showrunner, to bring on a change of pace and direction.

However, it appears as though it’s too little too late because, as it was noted above, Fallon’s talk show has fallen behind Stephen Colbert. Bell believes that Fallon is in need of an image makeover, however, it’s unclear precisely what they have in mind. Possibly, for instance, it could be for the host to be more politically charged and aggressive.

Furthermore, it was recently revealed that Fallon’s longtime producer, Katie Hockmeyer left The Tonight Show, following her brief exit on maternity leave. A source who spoke with Page Six confirmed Katie no longer works on The Tonight Show, despite the fact she and Jimmy are still very close.

The news of her departure comes after it was revealed that another longtime showrunner, Mike DiCenzo, also left. DiCenzo claimed he was simply exhausted and needed to leave the production after 10 straight years on The Tonight Show.

In 2018, Fallon said he became incredibly depressed when there was an immense backlash against him for his interview with Donald Trump in 2016 before he became the president.

Jimmy, in an interview, said it was very challenging for him, “what do you want me to do?” The host asked. “You want me to kill myself?” Since the controversy, Fallon has tried to bring in more politically-based humor to spice things up a bit.