Myers to succeed Fallon on Late Night

SETH TO STAY UP EVEN LATER: This beats the crap out of succeeding Regis Philbin as co-host of Live With Kelly. Seth Myers will take over for his former Saturday Night Live castmate Jimmy Fallon as the host of Late Night when Fallon replaces Jay Leno on The Tonight Show next year. Meyers leaves SNL after 12 seasons, eight of which he served as head writer and seven of which he hosted Weekend Update. His present boss Lorne Michaels will be the executive producer of Late Night. "I only have to work for Lorne for five more years before I pay him back for the time I totaled his car," Meyers joked in a statement. "12:30 on NBC has long been incredible real estate. I hope I can do it justice." Names like Howard Stern and Chelsea Handler had been thrown around as possible Fallon replacements, but Meyers seemed to be a frontrunner from the beginning thanks to his relationship with Michaels. Said Bob Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment. "We think Seth is one of the brightest, most insightful comedy writers and performers of his generation. His years at SNL's Weekend Update desk, not to mention being head writer of the show for many seasons, helped him hone a topical brand of comedy that is perfect for the Late Night franchise." As Yahoo News points out, Meyers's move to Late Night begs the question whether he and Michaels will update the format to be more similar to Weekend Update and Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. As for SNL, who will succeed Meyers as head writer, and who will be the new Weekend Update host? (5/13a)