The Roots to be Fallon's house band

NEW YORK, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Jimmy Fallon said in his nightly video blog The Roots will be his house band when "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" debuts on U.S. television next year.

"We are really excited to be working with Jimmy on the new 'Late Night,'" Roots founder Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, said in a statement. "It's also an honor to be working with an icon like Lorne Michaels. We are looking forward to becoming part of the history of 30 Rock."

Executive produced by Michaels, Fallon's "Late Night" will depart from David Letterman's and Conan O'Brien's Studio 6A and cross the hall to Studio 6B in NBC's 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters in New York, NBC said Tuesday.

Studio 6B was the New York home of the first 10 years of Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show," as well as for Carson's predecessor Jack Paar, who made television history by quitting his own show on the air after NBC censored a joke the night before.

Fallon is to take over as "Late Night" host when O'Brien leaves to take over "The Tonight Show" from Jay Leno, who is slated to start his own new prime-time comedy/talk show on the network.