The TV Zone

NBC has scheduled a conference call Monday to make what is already the worst kept secret in television official: That Jimmy Fallon will take over as host of "Late Night" when Conan O'Brien heads west next year to take over "Tonight." Many people will - doubtless - wonder about Fallon's talk show chops, etc. You know the gripe: "He's never hosted a talk show...how can he...?" Etc. But NBC does have a pretty good track record at this hour; I believe it's batted a thousand at 12:35 over the last two decades, so I'm assuming it knows exactly what it's doing...

In fact, Fallon brings to mind the guy he'll be competing against - Craig Ferguson, the very gifted "Late Late Show" guy who was a standup, author (of a novel, and soon, his own memoirs). Letterman of course briefly hosted a daytime talker, but he was a weatherguy, for crying out loud. Fallon - I am certain - will do just fine. His biggest challenge: Fergie, whose numbers are building...