The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is reaching back into late-night TV history to find a temporary replacement for The Roots. The NBC show announced a familiar face is returning to TV later this month.
Musician Paul Shaffer will fill in for The Roots on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon beginning next week. Jimmy Fallon's usual band will be busy rehearsing for the concert special put on as part of Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary.
Shaffer made his mark in late-night TV leading The World's Most Dangerous Band on Late Night with David Letterman and Late Show with David Letterman. The musician revealed to Billboard that the Dangerous Band will join him on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for four shows.
The Roots are perhaps the most talented band on the planet, let alone in late-night TV. So it's no easy task for anyone to replace them. But Paul Shaffer and The World's Most Dangerous Band is a wise choice by NBC.
Shaffer knows the business as well as anyone and can perfectly play off Fallon. He's a throwback to when bands played a much larger role on late-night TV. While Fallon involves The Roots whenever he can, gone are the days of banter between Max Weinberg and Conan O'Brien and even Seth Meyers and Fred Armisen.
The dynamic between Shaffer and David Letterman was a key part of what made Late Night and Late Show stand out. No one is saying that Jimmy Fallon is David Letterman, but maybe Shaffer can bring a little more out of the Tonight Show host during his visit.
The good news is that we've already seen Shaffer and Fallon work together successfully. The musician sat in on The Tonight Show back in 2023. Fallon knew when to throw it to Shaffer and let him share some pretty entertaining stories of his late-night TV history.
Paul Shaffer joins The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon beginning Monday, February 10.