Report: NBC Is Strong-Arming ‘Tonight Show’ Guests Into Not Appearing On Other Talk Shows

Jimmy Fallon’s ratings in his first couple weeks as host of The Tonight Show have been pretty great, and if this new report from TMZ is to be believed, NBC is trying to use the ratings success as leverage to keep guests who want to keep appearing on the show from appearing… well, anywhere else.

Sources connected to CBS, NBC and ABC tell TMZ … the Peacock network believes Jimmy Fallon’s ratings success gives them extreme bargaining power. They put the word out to celebs, agents and publicists … if they want to be on Fallon they can’t appear on ANY other network … and not just shows that go head-to-head with Jimmy, but morning shows as well. […]

A GMA source tells TMZ … they’ve already gotten fallout from people they were trying to book.

I have no idea if this is true. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Maybe it’s been going on behind-the-scenes forever between bookers and publicists, but it’s blowing up now because there’s a big fancy new host. Who knows? It’s from TMZ, after all. They have the same relationship with facts that most children have with vegetables: accept that they exist, then choose to disregard them. The only reason I’m posting the story here at all is because I kind of love the idea of NBC sending old-timey goons in pinstripe suits to the Tonight Show green room to corner, like, Fun. and say, “Awful nice Tonight Show appearance you got here. Be a shame if something … happened to it.” If that’s how this is going down, fine. Carry on.

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