On Monday, February 17, Jimmy Fallon premiered his stint as the new host of the “Tonight Show,” succeeding longtime host, Jay Leno. Leno hosted the show from May of 1992 to February 6 of this year, only taking about a ten-month hiatus in 2009 until early 2010. Leno was 63 years old at the end of his career on the “Tonight Show,” and his median viewer was 57.8 years old. When he bowed out, NBC was faced with the challenge of finding a new host, and clearly thought they might need to start targeting a new audience. As Bill Carter of the New York Times wrote, “to remain an essential part of American culture, ‘Tonight’ required a generational change at some point, adjusting the focus from baby boomers to their millennial kids.”

Enter Jimmy Fallon.

39 years old, almost a quarter of a century younger than Leno, Fallon made a name for himself on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and YouTube with his original and hilarious clips, usually mocking pop culture at his own expense. Some of the most popular include “The Evolution of Mom Dancing” with First Lady Michelle Obama, which hit 17 million views on YouTube over the last year, and “#Hashtag,” a satirical conversation with Justin Timberlake, which has succeeded 21 million views in only four months. This kind of understanding of youth pop culture – making fun of their moms and jokingly overusing hashtags on Twitter – is what will keep the “Tonight Show,” under Fallon, a hit.

Some journalists have taken the opposing view. Scott Stinson of the National Post even went as far as to headline his article, “Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show is fun, but likely doomed.” He goes on to describe how confused the typical Leno fan would be when Kristin Wiig showed up for an interview as Harry Styles from the boy band phenomenon One Direction on Tuesday night. Stinson speculates, “The Leno watcher would have wondered why this lady appeared to be named Harry. And wondered further why she seemed to be making up her answers. And why did she and the host seem to find everything so funny? Where are Jay and his Headlines?”

The real question is, does America even care?

The answer is yet to be confirmed, but the buzz surrounding Fallon’s first week hosting the “Tonight Show” suggests maybe not. Since his debut earlier this week, his “Evolution of Hip-Hop Dancing” with Will Smith has reached over nine million views in five days. His barbershop quartet remix of R. Kelly’s “Ignition (Remix)” was even featured on BuzzFeed in an article, the headline of which declared it “literally perfect”. President Obama himself even promoted the show on Twitter Thursday afternoon, for the Fist Lady’s appearance on the show later that night.

 

The most talked-about clip of the First Lady’s guest appearance was undeniably Fallon’s sketch with Will Ferrell, dubbed “Ew!”, where Michelle Obama appeared as herself to be interviewed by Fallon and Ferrell dressed up as Harry Styles obsessed tweens whose favorite catch phrases are “I can’t!” and “Ew!”. In two days, the sketch reached over 2 million views on YouTube and garnered attention on social media.

 

However, no clip received as much social media spotlight as the newest addition to the "History of Rap" series Fallon started with longtime friend Justin Timberlake on "Late Night." Fallon and Timberlake's “History of Rap 5” aired on Friday and reached over 1 million views 15 hours after being posted on YouTube. The clip was also promoted by Timberlake over Twitter and shared on Facebook by celebrities ranging from Perez Hilton to Steven Tyler, whose song with Aerosmith, “Walk This Way,” was featured in the medley. As a result, the clip was “trending” on Facebook after airing Friday night and all of the following Saturday.

Fallon knows how to work the social media system.

Yes, it is true that most millennial kids, especially once out of their childhood homes and in college, opt for Netflix, Hulu, or just online streaming available through each television network’s specific website instead of traditional broadcasting. In college kids, this is usually due to a lack of television or cable, or a social life and class schedule that prevents them from being home and on the couch when their favorite shows air. In Fallon’s case, the best clips of the “Tonight Show” can be found on YouTube the morning after. Yet millennials who really love Fallon will know it’s not the same.

If Fallon continues to feature funny interviews and witty sketches, every night, every week, the younger generation will start to pencil his show into their busy schedules. Their love for Fallon has only increased in the last week, with various Facebook posts and tweets, one even declaring him “the boss of late night television.”

 

Fallon can and will work his way into the hearts and daily habits of the millennials, his show becoming another “Saturday Night Live” to watch and unwind after a long and busy day. They may watch live through traditional broadcasting, they may watch by recording it for later, or they may watch on NBC’s website, but they will watch.

If he builds it, they will come.

 

Reach Staff Writer Caitlin Plummer here. Follow her on Twitter here.