NBC’s Latest “Tonight Show” Change Involves a Post-Football Edition

It’s a strange time for late-night television. Earlier this year, NBC decided to shift The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon from running five new episodes each week to four. What’s NBC’s next move for their flagship late-night show? As The Hollywood Reporter‘s Alex Weprin writes, audiences will soon see the show making a rare weekend appearance, following Sunday Night Football‘s Colts-Jets matchup on November 17.

Additionally, Weprin reports that Jon Hamm, Pharrell and Lindsay Lohan will join Fallon for this special edition of the show. “We can’t wait to bring our show to fans of Sunday Night Football,” Tonight Show showrunner Chris Miller told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s going to be a must-watch night of TV.”

This won’t be Fallon’s first time following an NFL broadcast; far from it, in 2019, five episodes of The Tonight Show aired on Sundays once the evening’s NFL games had concluded.

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It’s been a challenging time for talk shows, full stop; the growth in popularity of YouTube channels has changed the game substantially and has offered new competitors for both celebrity guests and overall viewers. Podcasts, too, have seen their relevance grow: in 2016, Donald Trump’s Tonight Show appearance launched a thousand thinkpieces. Now, Trump and Kamala Harris are making headlines for appearing on podcasts to boost their campaigns.

Will following a highly-watched football game make for a must-watch Tonight Show episode? We’ll know in a little over a month.