TOP 40 Moments Of Jimmy Fallon's Career

With Jimmy Fallon celebrating the big 4-0 this week, we thought it would be fun to count down the Top 40 moments of his career (so far). Happy Birthday, Jimmy!

40. September 19, 1974

iheartjimmy.com / Via wordpress.com

While we can't deny that Mama Fallon did most of the work on this one, Jimmy's birthday deserves a spot on this list because, let's face it. This is where it all began. Up next: 40 years of crazy, epic moments that gave us the wildly successful Jimmy Fallon we know today.

39. Acting out the "clean" parts of SNL when he was young

WatchMojo.com / Via youtube.com

Jimmy and his (also super talented and funny) sister Gloria would often watch and re-enact the clean parts of SNL for friends and family members when they were kids. No doubt this jump-started his life-long career of entertaining!

38. Performing at the White House

The White House / Via youtube.com

Jimmy got his chance to entertain President Obama and members of the USO back in 2009 during the White House 4th of July Celebration. Not too shabby for the then newly-crowned Late Night host!

37. Celebrity Cameos on the 1st Episode of The Tonight Show

Fallon Tonight / Via youtube.com

Robert DeNiro famously bet Jimmy $100 that he would never survive Late Night television, so when Jimmy took over the Tonight Show, DeNiro, along with over a dozen of Jimmy's famous friends, showed up to support him and handed over $100 each.

36. Impersonating Jerry Seinfeld with Jerry Seinfeld on Weekend Update

Jimmy took his killer Jerry Seinfeld impression to a whole new level when he got to impersonate Jerry in a segment with the man himself. Nothing says "You've made it" quite like this!

35. Evolution of Mom Dancing with Michelle Obama

Fallon Tonight / Via youtube.com

Who else but Jimmy could get the First Lady to show off her killer Mom Dance moves on national television, not to mention reach 19 MILLION views on YouTube? This is just one of many reasons celebs love to do crazy things on the show!

34. Hosting the MTV Movie Awards in 2001 and 2005

The Falpal / Via youtube.com

Co-hosting the MTV Movie Awards in 2001 put Jimmy on the map in terms of his hosting abilities. He did such a great job that he was invited back to host solo in 2005.

(PS: In our professional opinion, Jimmy should host all awards shows, all the time.)

33. Having Lorne Michaels as a Mentor

The Wrap / Via thewrap.com

Jimmy's long-time mentor, SNL creator and Late Night/Tonight Show Executive Producer Lorne Michaels has played a HUGE role in Jimmy's career. Lorne saw Jimmy's potential early on and has helped put Jimmy on the path to super-stardom.

32. Tonight Show Ratings CRUSH the Competition from Day 1

Jeff Darcy / Via cagle.com

It's no surprise to anyone who was a fan of Jimmy's from Late Night that the Tonight Show is a raging success. But when the ratings soared from day one and never let up, the skeptics finally began to realize that Jimmy is a force to be reckoned with.

31. Singing a Duet with Paul McCartney

paulmccartney.com

Jimmy reached another milestone in his career when he somehow convinced Paul McCartney to sing a duet with him on Late Night. The pair sang "Scrambled Eggs," which was a song McCartney created to remember the tune to what would become "Yesterday."

30. Bruce Springsteen Week

NBCUniversal

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon quickly became THE place for musical performances, which was evidenced by the fact that The Boss chose to spend a whole week with Jimmy promoting his box set. This also marked the legendary moment when Bruce and Neil Young sang Whip My Hair together for the first time.

29. Winning a People's Choice Award for Best Late Night Host

People's Choice / Via youtube.com

Jimmy won the heart of the People when he was named the Best Late Night Host in 2012. Let's face it, to win any award is an honor, but it must feel preeeetty good to be the one chosen by the masses.

28. Live Superbowl After-Show in Indianapolis

Jimmy's 6 years of live-television experience came in handy when he and the Late Night gang headed to Indianapolis to do a live show after the Superbowl in 2012.

The hour-long show was filled with fun and surprises, and was a huge success. Here's hoping they do it again someday!

27. Ask Jimmy Video: The Definition of a Falpal

Fallon Tonight / Via youtube.com

Jimmy has an ever-growing fan-base, whom he affectionately refers to as The Falpals. He never fails to show his fans how much he loves and appreciates them.

26. Social Media Milestones

Fallon Tonight / Via youtube.com

A big part of the success of Late Night and the Tonight Show has been their use of Social Media to connect with the fans. Jimmy almost has 15 million followers on twitter, and the Tonight Show Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and YouTube Accounts have all reached huge milestones as well. They sure know how to keep the fans involved!

25. Musical Impressions on Weekend Update

The world caught their first glimpse of Jimmy's amazing musical impressions when he appeared as a guest on Weekend Update. It wasn't long after that that Jimmy Fallon became a household name.

24. Late Night and Tonight Show Digital Originals

NBCUniversal

The writers of Late Night found out early on that spoofing popular television shows would be a huge success. It started with 7th Floor West - a spoof of The Hills - but it didn't stop there. They went off to cover such shows as Glee (6-Bee), Lost (Late), Downton Abbey (Downton Sixbey) and most recently brought the Digital Originals to the Tonight Show with House of Cards (House of Cue Cards).

23. History Of Rap series with Justin Timberlake

If you need me to explain why this is here, then I suggest you move along. #Jimberlake

22. Slow Jamming the News with President Obama

Fallon Tonight / Via youtube.com

Not only did Jimmy get to interview President Obama at UNC Chapel Hill, he also somehow convinced the president to Slow Jam the News. Not many entertainers can say they got the President to do something so fun! (The best part: Watching Obama drop the mic at the end).

21. Breaking on SNL

Jimmy laughed his way into our hearts by showing us that he genuinely had a good time each and every week he was on SNL.

20. Jimmy's First Impression: James Cagney at the age of 2

WatchMojo.com / Via youtube.com

Jimmy's sister Gloria shared a story (and a sound clip) of Jimmy doing his very first impression of James Cagney at the age of two. Sadly we can't find the clip anymore, but believe us when we say it was pretty freaking adorable. You dirty rat!

19. The Troll Doll Bit

frenchees1videos / Via youtube.com

Jimmy receiving a troll doll for graduation might not seem like a big deal, but this troll doll served as the backbone of many of his first stand-up routines.

18. Being voted Most Likely to Replace David Letterman in High School

Hudson Valley / Via hvmag.com

Did Nostradamus go to Saugerties High School?

17. Gracing the Cover of ALL THE MAGAZINES

Who doesn't love a magazine that has Jimmy Fallon on the cover?

Hey, we'd even buy Golf Digest if it had Jimmy on the front! (oh wait, pretty sure that already happened).

16. Making the 2013 Time 100 Most Influential People List

Super Pop VIP / Via youtube.com

2013 was an amazing year for Jimmy. His daughter Winnie was born, it was announced he would take over the Tonight Show, and oh, he was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world. No big.

15. His First Comedy Album - The Bathroom Wall

Saint Rose Blog / Via blogs.strose.edu

Jimmy was nominated for a Grammy for his very first comedy album, The Bathroom Wall. While he didn't win that year, it was still a huge milestone for his career.

14. Fever Pitch

This movie was significant not only for Jimmy's career, but also because it's where he met his future wife, producer Nancy Juvonen.

(PS: We all need a little Ben Wrightman in our lives.)

13. Musical Impressions and Parodies

Only Jimmy Fallon can combine the classic rock of The Doors with the 80's pre-K phenomenon 'Reading Rainbow' and get away with it.

12. "Coming Home" to host SNL in 2011

Jimmy spent his whole life dreaming of someday being on SNL, so when he went back to host for the first time in 2011, it got a little emotional. But since Jimmy Fallon was practically made for SNL, it turned out to be one of the greatest Christmas episodes of all time. (We might be a liiiiittle biased. But still).

When he returned to host again in 2013, nobody thought he could top the 2011 episode. Boy were we wrong!

11. Winning an Emmy for Hosting SNL (TWICE!)

Gold Derby / Via goldderby.com

Speaking of Jimmy Fallon being made for SNL, he has won Emmys for BOTH of the episodes he hosted. 100% success rate, not too shabby!

10. Hosting the MTV VMAs in 2002

Ricardo Garcia / Via youtube.com

This was Jimmy's first time hosting a large-scale awards ceremony without a co-host, and he completely blew it out of the park. Because of this gig, the general public began to realize Jimmy's talent as an entertainer outside of his work on SNL.

(PS: Have we mentioned Jimmy should host all awards all the time?)

9. Winning Impression Contest at Bananas Comedy Club

Via hulu.com

Jimmy won his first impression contest at the ripe old age of 17. After getting a taste of how it feels to perform (and win!), there was no turning back.

8. Getting The Roots to sign on as house band for Late Night and The Tonight Show

Jimmy Fallon + The Roots = Magic

(Who says math isn't fun?)

7. Winning a Grammy for 'Blow Your Pants Off'

Jimmy's second comedy album literally blew our pants off.

6. Becoming a co-anchor on SNL's Weekend Update

London_Calling5 / Via london-calling5.livejournal.com

Becoming a co-anchor on Weekend Update is pretty much SNL's top honor. Plus, it gave us our first glimpse at how much fun he has joking about the news, which definitely played in his favor when he was later considered to replace Conan on Late Night.

5. Hosting the 62nd Annual Prime Time Emmys in 2010

Glee / Via youtube.com

This was a huge moment for Jimmy's career. After hosting Late Night for a little over a year, there were still some skeptics in the midst. After hosting the Emmys, his fan-base grew exponentially.

4. Getting Lorne Michaels to laugh during his SNL audition

If you ask any SNL cast member, they are likely to tell you that Lorne Michaels doesn't laugh. But when Jimmy brought his Adam Sandler impression to his SNL audition, Lorne couldn't hold back his laughter.

That's pretty epic.

3. Joining the cast of SNL

Jimmy spent his whole life dreaming of becoming a cast member of SNL. In 1998, his dream came true when he was hired as a featured player, and then was promoted to full cast member in 1999.

And to think, this was only the beginning.

2. Taking over Late Night on March 2nd, 2009

Jimmy revolutionized the Late Night talk show when he took over from Conan in 2009. The combination of getting celebs to do crazy things, viral videos, and usage of social media made Jimmy's Late Night a force to be reckoned with.

1. Taking over The Tonight Show on February 17th, 2014

When Jimmy took over for Jay Leno as the Host of the Tonight Show, it was the beginning of a new era of Late Night television. He hit the ground running and is still going strong.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIMMY!

We can't wait to see what the next 40 years has in store!

Love from your "other" family,

The Falpals