The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is an American
late-night talk show hosted by
Saturday Night Live alum,
Jimmy Fallon, on
NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and it is the seventh incarnation of NBC's long-running
Tonight Show franchise, with Fallon serving as the sixth host. The show also stars sidekick and announcer
Steve Higgins and house band
The Roots.
The Tonight Show originates from
NBC Studios' Studio 6B, where
Johnny Carson's Tonight Show was also taped, in
Rockefeller Center,
New York City. Fallon's tenure at
The Tonight Show also marked the return of the franchise to its New York City origin after little over forty years, before it was moved to
Burbank, California in 1972, ten years after Carson's tenure began. On the October 27, 2015 episode of
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Fallon officially announced Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon, the first one based on a late night talk show, for a 2017 opening at
Universal Studios Florida. The attraction would be based on the popular celebrity race segment from Fallon's show. That same day, Universal Studios Florida announced that
Twister...Ride It Out would permanently close on November 1, 2015 to make way for Race Through New York. The attraction's former enclosed queue line was later reused as prop windows. Inside these windows, guests can find
Bill Paxton's light blue shirt, a stapler labeled "B. Paxton" and an advertisement for the fictional Twister Cola, which pays tribute to the former attraction. On January 21, 2017, The Tonight Shop opened to guests. As announced on January 12, Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon would officially open to the public on April 6, 2017. on the ride's concept for three and a half years. Filming commenced on November 4, 2015 at Studio 8H, where
Saturday Night Live originates, as confirmed from photos shared by Fallon on his Instagram account. Fallon is seen wearing a
motion capture suit and helmet, while sitting on a makeshift go-kart, surrounded by motion capture cameras, crediting
Industrial Light & Magic for the motion capture filming for the attraction. Fallon posted another photo on his Twitter account on a closed set in Vancouver filming new scenes for the attraction on April 18, 2016, this time wearing a suit as he usually wears on
The Tonight Show, sitting in a hydraulic go-kart simulator in front of a green screen. The removal of the Twister attraction began promptly in December 2015 after its closing. Construction began in March 2016, when the first supports for the ride's facade were brought to Soundstage 50, where the ride would be housed. The building's facade is based on
30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York, where
Studio 6B is located. In a behind-the-scenes video released by Universal Orlando, early November 2016, and a post by the theme park's official blog various cast and Fallon characters were revealed to have an appearance in the attraction, including
Sara and her stepdad, Gary, who was carrying a basket with the
Tonight Show Golden Retriever puppies inside, Fallon's
Tight Pants character, announcer
Steve Higgins,
The Tonight Show house band
The Roots,
The Ragtime Gals and the show's mascot
Hashtag the Panda. The ride is also the first Universal Orlando attraction to feature
virtual queuing. Jimmy Fallon also invited
Dwayne Johnson to go out on the streets of
Universal Studios Florida, each dressed in a college mascot costume of themselves, competing for the most high fives, hugs and selfies taken in an amount of time, with Fallon winning. They continued their stint inside the attraction's stage to
photobomb park goers in their college mascot costumes; one of them got emotionally surprised when meeting Johnson, who was his lifelong hero, after Johnson took off his costume's head. On April 6, 2017, opening day, Jimmy Fallon was paraded to the entrance of the attraction on a New York-themed float joined by
Steve Higgins,
The Roots,
Sara's stepdad, Gary, and
Hashtag the Panda, from the backlot. After giving a speech, accompanied by his wife, Nancy, and their daughters, Winnie and Frances, Fallon officially opened the attraction during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Lawsuit Austria-based Dynamic Motion Rides, also known as DyMoRides, developed the ride system for the attraction based on its patented technology, working closely with
Universal Creative. Following a series of disagreements between the parties about the cause of delays, Universal made the decision to hire Peterson Inc., a Utah-based steel fabrication company, to build the mechanical parts of the ride system. Based on a clause in the contract, Universal forced Dynamic Motion Rides to assign its contract with the drive-and-control system subcontractor directly to Universal. The director and owner of the subcontractor, who is the technical director of Dynamic Motion Systems (a sister company of Dynamic Motion Rides) built the special control system for the attraction and completed the project, now directly under contract with Universal. The conflict led to a lawsuit filed in 2021 by DyMoRides over $5 million in unpaid bills and damages sought for Universal operating its intellectual property without a license. ==Summary==