Flashback to February of 2014: A crowd of villagers carries young Jimmy Fallon triumphantly away from the ruins of Castle Tonight Show, as flames slowly climb the ruin’s once imposing stone walls. The unkillable monster has been vanquished, and a new generation of change has finally begun. Now, we cut to present day, overlooking the burned-out shell of the building. Our camera pans back into the wreckage, past Kevin Eubanks’ skeleton, past the mummified remnants of Conan O’Brien’s hopes and dreams. It settles on a hand, almost buried in rubble. All is still, until the claw twitches, reaching for a nearby newspaper. Ragged, withered fingers pass over the text, desperately searching. Suddenly, they find what they seek: a headline with some funny double meanings. A bloodshot eye opens.
The former Tonight Show host is finalizing deals to renew his eternal symbiotic relationship with NBCUniversal—and the very medium of television—by developing a new show for CNBC. The program, as yet untitled, will air on primetime and revolve around Leno’s love of classic cars—also the topic of the comedian’s Emmy-winning web series, Jay Leno’s Garage. CNBC, which has been making a push into reality TV lately with shows like The Profit and reruns of NBC’s popular Shark Tank, aired a special edition of Garage back in August, presumably as a trial run for the new show.