Chris Miller will take the reins of NBC’s venerable “Tonight Show,” stepping in as showrunner as the current one, Jamie Granet-Bederman, takes a step back.
Miller joins the program from “The Drew Barrymore Show,” where he served as one of the executive producers. He has ties to Fallon, having worked for Flower Films, the production company launched by Barrymore and her partner, Nancy Juvonen. Juvonen is Fallon’s wife, and she made some popular appearances on “Tonight” during the pandemic, when the show went into an “at home” production that featured its host and his family hunkering down away from the “Tonight” set at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters.
Granet-Bederman is expected to focus on developing new projects for Fallon, who also has his own production company, Electric Hot Dog, which is one of the backers of the singing series “That’s My Jam.”
The choice of Miller continues the show’s reliance on sticking with producers who have some deeper ties to the host and those close to him. His predecessor, Granet-Bederman, had worked with Fallon for more than a decade, dating back to his time behind the desk at NBC’s “Late Night.” Outsiders have not fared as well. NBC in 2019 parted ways with Jim Bell, an NBC News and NBC Sports veteran, who was named to lead “Tonight” as it met with ratings challenges against CBS’ “Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” Another “Tonight” executive producer, Josh Lieb, a former Comedy Central producer, left “Tonight” in 2016 after helping kick off Fallon’s tenure on the show. He was replaced on an interim basis by Gavin Purcell, a former “Tonight” producer.
Miller joins “Tonight” as one of its main rivals is entering a period of transition. CBS’ “Late Show With Stephen Colbert” has yet to name a successor for Chris Licht, the showrunner who is departing to become CEO of CNN under Discovery once that company acquires WarnerMedia from AT&T. Meanwhile, Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC program had the same executive producer, Jill Leiderman, for 14 years. Her replacement, Sharon Hoffman, joined the program in May of 2020, but left in January of last year.
Even so, there is still a strong element of stability at “Tonight.” The executive producer of the show since Fallon’s tenure began is Lorne Michaels.
