“That red-hot performance was almost certain to end at some point,” Mr. Burke
said, “but he’s still head and shoulders above his competition, creatively.”
Though the program has seen turnover in top creative posts — the showrunner Josh Lieb left in the fall;
the head writer A. D. Miles exited this spring — Mr. Fallon said these were “growing pains.”
“I don’t want to have the same exact people here,” he said.
Where would he draw the line?”
She added, “How long will it take before American audiences lose all their faith in him, as an honest person they can watch every night?”
Lorne Michaels, the creator of “Saturday Night Live” and executive producer of “The Tonight Show,” said
that at the time of Mr. Trump’s “Tonight Show” visit, he was regarded incorrectly as a presidential also-ran.
Colbert brought a carving knife, and Mr. Fallon brought a butter knife.”
Though Mr. Fallon is not averse to joking about Mr. Trump on his program or impersonating him in comedy sketches
that portray the president as a squinting narcissist, he does not want this type of humor consuming “The Tonight Show.”
“There’s only so many bits you can do,” he said.
