It takes nearly 200 people around 10 hours each day to churn out an episode of “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.” We spent the day with showrunner Chris Miller, who joined in 2022, to watch how the magic unfolds. Follow along.
9 a.m.: Start times are loose for the 10 to 12 staff writers; some write their next-day contributions late at night and others come early in the morning.
But 9 is the cutoff for monologue sketch ideas. 9:45 a.m.
: Having read the submitted sketch ideas, Miller, head writer A.D. Miles and a few others compile them into a packet and hold the morning meeting.
Host Jimmy Fallon Zooms into the conversation from home for notes. 10 a.m.
: Selected bits that have to be produced for the show go into production in various departments with graphics, voice-over artists, costume, props, etc. “It’s all hands on deck,” Miller says. Writers get to work in groups, pairs or even solo.
A “gang write” might happen in the ping pong room, an oversized conference room featuring a jukebox and the game table that gives the room its name. “What makes for a good writers’ room in general is to allow for people to not feel they’re just throwing creativity into the void,” says Miles. “When you do get something on the air, it’s a rush to hear the audience response.
” 10:30 a.m.: An overall production meeting is held in the ping pong room with anywhere from 150 to 170 people squeezed in to go over ratings, general announcements, hiatus weeks and show post-m.