REPORT: NBC Prepping Jay Leno's Exit and Jimmy Fallon's Move to 'The Tonight Show' in 2014

Stop me if you've heard this one before. NBC is preparing to announce Jay Leno's retirement from The Tonight Show with plans to move the current and younger host of Late Night (who also has Saturday Night Live experience) into Leno's role. No, I'm talking about the infamous tale of NBC giving The Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien only to force him out a few months later and allow Leno to return. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network is once again preparing to send Leno into retirement, this time with Jimmy Fallon assuming the role of Tonight Show host.

The network says categorically no, but two high-level industry sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that NBC is moving toward a May announcement that the 2013-14 television season will be the last for Leno as host of the long-running late-night show. Sources expect the network to move Jimmy Fallon from his Late Night spot into the coveted 11:35 time slot with a soft launch during the summer of 2014 before a formal fall kickoff.

According to The Hollywood Reporter's story, ABC's move of Jimmy Kimmel to the 11:35 p.m. slot, which set him up as a director competitor to Leno and David Letterman, spooked NBC. While Leno is still performing well, the network is worried that as Kimmel siphons off younger viewers, Fallon's job of drawing that same audience in will become harder and harder.

I have the feeling that once the Leno domino falls, we'll see a massive shift in the late-night landscape. There's little doubt that Fallon is the man who will inherit The Tonight Show after Leno leaves, but I think there's still uncertainty when it comes to who will replace Letterman on Late Show. Everyone thinks highly of Craig Ferguson, but O'Brien and Letterman are quite close, especially considering that both of them were Leno victims. Even though TBS has invested a lot in O'Brien, he owns his show and appears to be in charge of his own future. Could O'Brien make his triumphant return to network TV as Letterman's replacement?

At the very least, NBC is will be looking for a replacement for Fallon with Late Night, and if Ferguson does replace Letterman, CBS will be looking for a new late-night host of its own. It seems odd to be thinking of who the younger Fallon could be when Fallon still seems to be the new kid on the late-night TV block. This move creates so many questions. Would NBC want to keep The Tonight Show based in Los Angeles? If Fallon moves his show, would The Roots move with him? Think about that — The Roots as the house band for the premiere late-night franchise.

With The Hollywood Reporter reporting a May announcement for NBC's upcoming moves, we have a few month to speculate how the pieces of this puzzle will fit. I'm sure the news will leak more before then, though.