Eric Ledgin is an Emmy Award-winning writer, producer, and showrunner best known for co-creating NBC’s St. Denis Medical. But for Ledgin, the path to running his own network comedy started at Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
On this week’s episode of LateNighter’s Inside Late Night podcast, Ledgin looks back at an “emotionally devastating” stretch of near-misses—getting called in, getting close, and not getting hired.
That changed when Fallon responded to a few of his monologue jokes and flew him to New York, hiring him the same day. Ledgin joined the show about six months into its run, just as it was beginning to find its voice—and he felt like he’d landed in the right place.
The job itself was relentless. Ledgin describes writing throughout the day—before work, on the train, in the room, and again at home. With only a limited number of monologue jokes making air each night, getting two or three on consistently meant you were doing your job.
That pressure was heightened by the show’s 13-week contract cycles, which functioned as rolling tryouts. “Anyone who says they’re not scared of being fired… is lying,” Ledgin says, recalling how long it took before he felt secure.
Beyond the monologue, Ledgin got opportunities to branch out, including producing a Pretape and seeing firsthand how Fallon shaped material. He also credits the show’s live rehearsal process with sharpening his instincts—learning the difference between a joke that reads well and one that actually lands with an audience.
After three years, Ledgin left Late Night for a job as head writer on The Pete Holmes Show on TBS, before transitioning to scripted comedy and shows like The Comedians, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Superstore, and (ultimately) St. Denis Medical.
Looking back, Ledgin frames his Fallon years as the foundation for everything that followed—a crash course in writing, producing, and surviving in comedy.
Click the embed above to listen to Eric Ledgin’s full conversation with Mark Malkoff now, or find Inside Late Night on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts..
