February 6th: The last The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

February 17th: The first The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

As these dates draw closer, a more in-depth analysis, reflection and celebration will be featured on this blog. However, for now, the temptation to throw one’s mind into a state of wild visions and predictions has become too irresistible to deny. And it starts with a simple, seemingly pointless and nonsensical question at this precise moment in time:

Who will take over The Tonight Show a couple decades down the road after Jimmy Fallon?

While this inquiry may derive an insulting premise, that could not be any more untrue. It’s simply an acknowledgement that the tectonic plates of the comedic landscape is changing right before our eyes and that it sparks a curiosity about what lies ahead. Appropriately, the mind wanders into the far reaches of what is possible and what even seems inevitable in the not so distant future, history wise.

Seth Meyers is taking over Late Night as an SNL veteran of late night laughs at the age of 40. He’s a clever, funny writer with good delivery. No doubt. However, can Meyers carry the same interest and entertaining interaction he always shared with Stefon to all his guests? If this proves to be the case, then get ready to laugh very late into the night. And unless Jimmy Fallon (39) tanks (which he won’t), the 20 or so year-old question into the future is, “who is Fallon’s heir apparent?” Meyers is the perfect age for taking over The Tonight Show (if he were chosen or the best fit) right now. Not in 10, 15 or 20 years. That’s too late (one of my better puns). His ticket seems cemented in Late Night and with whatever else Mr. Michaels pitches his way. Although, there’s always that one in a million chance…

My guess? The person’s name will not start with Seth and end in Meyers.

Instead, the next big star for NBC at 11:35 p.m. will (drum roll please…) be a female comedian (stand-up and skits) who has strong writing and performance ties to Saturday Night Live and, specifically and most importantly, Lorne Michaels. Given the longevity and success that Johnny Carson and Jay Leno had and how that will potentially translate to Fallon, it’s very likely this individual is still in college. Maybe, maybe, there are the quietest of whispers about her somewhere in her college hallways.

Somewhere, someplace, this person is making somebody laugh.

My prediction (via Carnac the Magnificent) is that the next host of The Tonight Show will be a beautiful, talented, clever, witty and nationally appealing female stand-up comic and master of sketches who will define a new era in comedy during the heart of the 21st century for girls and women of all ages across the United States and beyond.

No joke.