If you’ve ever wanted to play late-night host, the Windy City has you covered.
Chicago’s Museum of Broadcast Communications has quietly assembled a mini Mount Rushmore of late-night furniture, with three late-night desks now on display under one roof: Johnny Carson’s, Stephen Colbert’s, and—new as of this weekend—Jimmy Fallon’s.
And yes, you can sit behind all of them.
The museum’s latest addition is Fallon’s Tonight Show “travel desk,” a duplicate built for the show’s road episodes outside New York. Used for broadcasts in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Orlando, and—most recently—Detroit, the desk offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at a lesser-known late-night tradition: when the show hits the road, the desk (or a near-perfect copy of it) goes with it.
The complete display, created by NBC’s scenic design and props team at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, recreates elements of Fallon’s Studio 6B set behind it, complete with the model buildings that have been in place since the show’s 2014 launch.
The Fallon desk joins two existing fan-friendly setups at the museum: a replica of Carson’s classic Tonight Show desk and the desk used by Colbert during a week of shows in 2024 Chicago. All three are staged for photo ops, with visitors invited to take their turn behind the desk—and next to it.
Taken together, the displays form a throughline of late-night history, from Carson’s foundational run to today’s hosts carrying the format forward.
That’s very much in keeping with the museum’s recent evolution. Since reopening last year, The Museum of Broadcast Communications has leaned into late night as a centerpiece, anchored by two exhibits: “The Johnny Carson Centennial” and “The Evolution of Late-Night Television.”
The former pulls back the curtain on Carson’s three-decade run, featuring artifacts like monologue cue cards, set pieces, and elements of the original Tonight Show stage. The latter traces the lineage of the format from Steve Allen and Jack Paar through Letterman, Leno, O’Brien, Kimmel, Fallon, and Colbert, while examining how the genre continues to evolve across streaming, podcasts, and digital platforms.
Carson, who hosted The Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992, remains the connective tissue. His retirement marked not just the end of an era, but also the year the show finally won the Emmy for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series after 13 nominations.
Now, with three desks spanning that lineage under one roof, the museum offers something a little more tactile: the chance to literally take the host’s seat.
But this too will pass: “The Johnny Carson Centennial” and “The Evolution of Late-Night Television” are limited-run exhibitions, with both scheduled to end in January 2027.
Thanks to Fard for the tip!
