Leno to leave ‘Tonight Show’ next spring

4/4/2013

Jay Leno says he will be leaving NBC’s Tonight Show next spring, to be replaced by Jimmy Fallon.

Leno announced the move Wednesday in a news release.

NBC also confirms that the show will be moving to New York City when Fallon takes over. Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels will take over as producer of the new Tonight Show.

The move has been widely reported but not confirmed by the network until now. NBC reportedly just wrapped up negotiations with Fallon on a contract extension.

NBC did not say who will replace Fallon in his current time slot, which is one hour later than the Tonight Show.

Stones tour

The Rolling Stones have announced a nine-city tour.

The veteran rockers said Wednesday their “50 and Counting” tour will kick off in Los Angeles at the Staples Center. The date will be announced later.

The second show is in Oakland, Calif., on May 5. The tour will also visit San Jose, Calif.; Las Vegas; Anaheim, Calif.; Toronto; Chicago, and Boston. The tour ends June 18 in Philadelphia. Tickets for Oakland, San Jose, Toronto, and Chicago go on sale Monday. Ticket sales for the other cities will be announced later.

The band will also headline the Glastonbury Festival on June 29 and will perform at London’s Hyde Park on July 6.

Former band mate Mick Taylor, who was a member of the Rolling Stones from 1969 through 1974, will be a special guest throughout the tour.

Ebert’s cancer returns

Acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert said he’s been diagnosed with cancer again and that he will scale back his prolific writing of movie reviews while undergoing radiation treatment.

“I am not going away,” the 70-year-old ailing Pulitzer Prize winner wrote in a note posted late Tuesday. “My intent is to continue to write selected reviews but to leave the rest to a talented team of writers. ... What’s more, I’ll be able at last to do what I’ve always fantasized about doing: reviewing only the movies I want to review.”

Ebert battled cancer in his thyroid and salivary glands and lost the ability to speak and eat during previous surgery. The cancer recurrence was discovered after a hip fracture.

He hospitalized late last year with a hip fracture.

In addition to the select movie reviews he’ll write, Ebert said he also plans to spend time writing about his own illness.

“I may write about what it’s like to cope with health challenges and the limitations they can force upon you,” he said. “So on bad days I may write about the vulnerability that accompanies illness. On good days, I may wax ecstatic about a movie so good it transports me beyond illness.”

Ebert penned more than 300 reviews last year. He also said he plans to relaunch his Web site and roll out several other projects later this year.

Ebert began reviewing films for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1967 and marked his 46th anniversary at the paper on Wednesday. He was the nation’s foremost movie critic on television on shows such as Sneak Previews and At the Movies.