It looks like all those episodes of Weekend Update have paid off as Jimmy Fallon of Saturday Night Live fame has been tapped to replace Conan O’Brian next year.

The Associated Press reports that Fallon is quoted as saying that he’s been doing a monologue for three years in his living room in preparation for a transition that has been in the works since 2003 when a network executive first had the idea to place Fallon in front of the camera for a talk show.

While ‘Late Night’ isn’t your average talk show Fallon should have an easier time of making the transition than O’Brian did who struggled in the early parts of the show. Lorne Michaels famous for producing SNL as well has picking Conan O’Brian in the first place will also be the mastermind behind this transition.

Fans of Conan need not worry, the be-freckled late night comedy king will be moving over to NBC to fill Jay Leno’s shoes. The rushed news of his successor leads some to believe that Leno was pushed out a bit earlier than he planned on.

The late night lineup will have a new look by mid 2009 from the looks of it. It will be sad to see Jay go; his nightly spots have become an institution. But like Johnny before him, there comes a time when it’s better to hang em’ up rather than jump the shark.

Conan will bring a fresh look to Leno’s old time slot and the sky is the limit for Fallon, Lorne Michaels had this to say, “You're never really certain of these things, but I just think he's built for it," Michaels said. "You've just seen that he's really funny, he's smart and he has a really, really good work ethic."