Jimmy Fallon and Jay Leno. (NBC)

Wednesday's official announcement from NBC that Jimmy Fallon will be replacing Jay Leno on The Tonight Show was the culmination of months worth of speculation, rumors and gossip. When the media learned that Mr. Fallon was not only moving the show back to New York, but would be hosting the program from Johnny Carson's old studio, the comparisons between this latest drama and the bitter NBC late-night feuds in the past--Conan vs. Leno, Leno vs. Letterman--were inevitable, despite the network trying to play off the move as amicable. Hell, trying for the 11:30 (or now, technically, 11:35) slot on NBC is more of a political bloodsport than Game of Thrones, with at least twice as much backstabbing and allegiance shifting. (Though less decapitation ... that we know of.)

Here are the five best rumors about the new Tonight Show, along with any responses from NBC or its players.

1. Rumor: NBC was so pissed at Leno for mocking its ratings that it pushed the 22-year veteran out.
Last month, The New York Times ran a piece about the fallout from a joke that Mr. Leno made on Tonight about NBC sliding into fifth place in the ratings. The article cited three sources that claimed that NBC's top entertainment executive, Robert Greenblatt, and Mr. Leno engaged in a flame war after the episode. As Bill Carter wrote:

This moment of conflict between Mr. Leno and NBC’s management preceded recent reports — denied categorically by NBC executives — that the network was preparing to make a change, moving out Mr. Leno and bringing in Jimmy Fallon, the star of its 12:35 program “Late Night.”

Damage Control: NBC staged a dinner for Mr. Greenblatt and Mr. Leno, though of course that only fueled the fires to speculation that this was a "last meal" kind of scenario.

2. Rumor: Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon must hate each other.
It's happened with Jay Leno and literally every other contender for Tonight (including Carson, who wasn't a huge fan of his successor), or anyone who shares the time slot on a different station, so why should the brazen Mr. Fallon be any different?

Damage Control: On April 1, the two hosts got together and sang a parody duet of West Side Story's "Tonight."

Then again, it was April Fool's Day, so who knows how much stock to put in this bonhomie. However, Mr. Fallon does have a history of being, if anything, overly gracious to the cranky Mr. Leno.

3. Rumor: Fallon is already becoming the biggest late-night diva of them all.

Amid all these other swirling rumors was one that only applied to Mr. Fallon: that he had fired his longtime manager Eric Kranzler right before signing his Tonight deal.

Damage Control: Well, besides his former manager, everyone else seems to love Mr. Fallon.

4. Rumor: Jimmy Fallon rode in a sidecar of Jay Leno's motorcycle.

Thanks for this, New York Post:

Damage Control: The image turned out to be a fake, though without any sort of disclosure, you could be excused for thinking it was real.

5. That Seth Meyers will host in Fallon's former time-slot.

Every time a host moves up, it's an opportunity for some fresh blood to move into the recently vacated space. Right now, the biggest name being tossed around is Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers, which would be great ... Weekend Update every weeknight!

Damage Control: None, quite yet.

Letterman and Fallon: Braving the storm (NBC, CBS)

The only problem? Neither Jimmy Fallon nor David Letterman had a live audience--a first, in both their histories--to laugh at their jokes. But what could have turned into that creepy David Lynch episode of Louie was actually an amazing bit of performance art as the two jokesters performed to the dead silence of a mostly-empty room. *Yanks collar* "Tough crowd!"

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (with Seth Meyers and Robert Zemeckis as guests):

The Late Show with David Letterman (with Denzel Washington):
http://youtu.be/Mq2UDYVjz8Y
http://youtu.be/8NPiYyssX7Y
http://youtu.be/Hab8YTGWOhg
http://youtu.be/AWRRSX6ihTg

Is it kind of weird that both shows were promoting the movie Flight? That movie's PR machine just won't quit!

Slam Hank. (YouTube)

Tom Hanks is continuing what can only be described as an "apology tour" after blowing up ABC's spot with a big F-bomb on Good Morning America while promoting Cloud Atlas last week. First he showed up on Saturday Night Live for two segments, and last night he appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to perform some slam poetry about Full House. No, we don't know why, either.

http://youtu.be/rfWIuymme50

Fun questions to ask yourself: Did Tom Hanks ever watch Full House? Which character do you think he most related to? Is he friends with John Stamos in real life? Is Tom Hanks "hip" enough to make pop culture references that are only funny to kids born around 1984-1988? Etc.

Ellen DeGeneres, The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003-present): Jennifer Aniston

Jimmy Fallon, Late Night (2009): Robert DeNiro

• Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show (2009-2010): Will Ferrell 
• Jay Leno, The Jay Leno Show (2009-2010): Jerry Seinfeld
• Jay Leno, The Tonight Show (2010-present): Lindsey Vonn
• Nate Berkus, The Nate Berkus Show (2010-2012): Dolly Parton
• Conan O'Brien, Conan (2010-present): Arlene Wagner [curator, Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum]
• Anderson Cooper, Anderson (2011-present): the family of Amy Winehouse
• Bethenny Frankel, Bethenny (2012-present): Vanessa L. Williams
• Jeff Probst, The Jeff Probst Show (2012-present): Kelly Pozzoli, schoolteacher with cervical cancer
• Katie Couric, Katie (2012-present): Jessica Simpson

Lena Dunham on 'Late Night' (Hulu)

Can you guys believe that there is only one episode of Girls left? That's so depressing! Will Shoshanna ever lose her virginity? Will Marnie and Hannah ever make up? Will we ever care about Jessa, or stop caring about Ray? (Alex Karpovsky is our new crush, for now and forever.) We hope the season finale will answer some, if not all of these questions!

In the meantime, here is Lena Dunham on Late Night Wednesday night, where she told Jimmy Fallon about her very weird high school crush on him. (It involved a play she wrote, obviously!)

http://www.hulu.com/watch/370612#s-p3-sr-i1

We don't know why St. Ann's didn't go for this kind of dramatic, Charlie Kaufman-esque storyline back in high school, but we're sure Spike Jonze or someone would be happy to option it today.

Holly Van Voast makes Fallon blush (TMZ.com)

Oh, Topless Paparazzo. You are like Batman. You show up when the city needs you, really needs you, and have the element of surprise of all your victims! The nefarious Bill Cosby? Ka-PLAT! The dastardly Commissioner Ray Kelly? Pa-CHOW!

Jimmy Fallon signing books at Barnes & Noble? Be-WOP!

Wait, actually we have one question...

Did Jimmy Fallon, that bag of hair and teeth, really write a book all by himself? Why, that is impressive.

Secret Paparazzo, hats off to you. May no one learn your secret identity as regular gal about town, Holly Van Voast. Whoops!

Jimmy Falllon bows his head in deference to the President (NBC)

Last night, "the POTUS with most-us" joined professional laugh track Jimmy Fallon on Late Night, slow jamming the news and talking about student loans. Fun!

Now we're just full of questions: is this Mr. Fallon's version of David Letterman's Top 10 lists? Will Justin Timberlake or Brian Williams ever return to do follow-ups of their slow jam in the face of what might be the ultimate slow jam?

Also, student loans, President Obama? Well, we guess you know who actually watches Fallon's show.

They should just change the shows title to 'Splash'

We were a little put out after watching the pilot for NBC's "hit new show(tm)" Smash and finding out that not once in the entire first episode did Anjelica Huston throw a glass of fluid in someone's face.

The previews for the show had lied to us, because we distinctly remember an entire commercial dedicated to what looked like a super-cut of her character, Broadway producer Eileen Rand, splashing people (usually her ex-husband) like she was on a really classy version of Punk'd. Luckily, the subsequent two episodes have had a lot more pizzazz. Look at that guy's face! Every time! Womp-womp!

Last night on Jimmy Fallon, the host played the clip of Ms. Huston just making everyone so wet, and she responded in kind:

We hope this becomes the Academy Award winner's new calling card: get too close, and she'll just douse you in Chardonnay.

Rachel Dratch (Getty Images)

Sure, going out on a winter Sunday is a drag—but who wants to watch 60 Minutes when Rachel Dratch is saluting the writer of Hugo? Tonight’s Writers Guild of America Awards are simultaneously going on at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles (fancy!) and the B.B. King Blues Club in New York City (sure!). Ms. Dratch, the former Saturday Night Live actress, will be an apt host for the East Coast proceedings on an evening at which four-fifths of attendees, upon losing their award, will become Debbie Downers; fellow presenters are to include author-about-town Jonathan Ames, theoretical comedian Jimmy Fallon and indefatigable interlocutor Steve Kroft. We’re rooting for Bridesmaids!

B.B. King Blues Club, 237 West 42nd Street, doors open at 7:15 p.m., ceremony at 8 p.m., after-party at 10 p.m., “festive blues club attire.” Tickets available at wgaeast.org.

Michelle Obama vs. Jimmy Fallon (NBC)

If you're a fan of talk shows where famous people talk to other famous people so that the second famous person can promote their latest whatever, then you might have noticed an odd trend: First Lady Michelle Obama has been making the rounds lately: first on Ellen, then Jay Leno, and now Jimmy Fallon, all in an effort to raise awareness for the Let's Move! health initiative. Or is it?

Michelle Obama gets a visit from Jimmy Fallon last night:
Mrs. Obama on The Tonight Show last week, talking about her husband's singing and nutrition:

Michelle Obama challenging Ellen to a push-up contest:

Now, these three clips all have one thing in common, and it's not just that all three shows appear on NBC, which is the conspiracy theory put forward by Nikki Finke. Two of those segments featured the First Lady going head-to-head with the host in some kind of physical endurance challenge, while the Leno clip had some doctored footage of Mrs. Obama getting into fistacuffs with Al Roker.

While one could claim this is all part of the Let's Move! Initiative, it also shows that Mrs. Obama has a sense of humor about herself. After all, it wasn't so long ago that she was being called an angry black woman and every major network was speculating on her strong-arming tactics with White House policy advisers.

This the call-out to any anchor, writer, or media commenter who wants to take on Michelle "The Rock" Obama. She'll make you gasp for air before she even breaks out a sweat. She's not going to meekly hide behind a nutrition campaign because her physical strength is associated with some negative stereotypes. The message is clear: Don't mess with the First Lady.