After a 22-year reign on the Tonight Show, Jay Leno will be replaced by Late Night host Jimmy Fallon next year.  Leno’s contract was set to expire in 2014 and rather than renew it, NBC execs decided to replace him with someone they felt could appeal to a younger audience and improve ratings.

Leno left the Tonight Show briefly in 2010 and moved to an earlier time-slot with “The Jay Leno Show.”  After paltry ratings for both the new show and the Tonight Show under new host Conan O’Brien, Leno was moved back to the “Tonight Show” in his original time slot.

Leno has been in hot water with NBC over the past few weeks because many of his jokes have mocked the network and their ratings.  In late February, Leno said that the ratings were so bad, The Biggest Loser’ isn’t just a TV show anymore; it’s our new motto. Leno received several heated emails from executive Robert Greenblatt because of the jokes, which only fueled Leno to continue poking fun at NBC.  Ironically enough, the more Leno makes fun of NBC, the more his ratings increase.

While Leno and NBC aren’t likely to part on a happy note, Fallon is happy to get behind the desk of the Tonight Show.  Fallon has received a lot of support for his new position.  Fallon recently tweeted a photo of a lunch spread Jimmy Kimmel sent over to congratulate him on being named the new host.

Kimmel’s happiness at Fallon taking over on the Tonight Show next year isn’t solely due to their friendship.  Kimmel has been critical of Leno in the past and even knocked Leno’s comedic abilities back in January.

Since Leno is the one being ousted of a job, no one expects him to offer up any sincere words of praise for Fallon, but he did offer a joking congratulations that poked fun at NBC again.