Jimmy Fallon Tonight Show rumors: 'In the nicest way, who really cares?'

NEW YORK - It seems everyone but Jimmy Fallon is wondering whether the comedian will get a shot at hosting "The Tonight Show."

The rumors about Fallon replacing Jay Leno have been heavy recently - rumors NBC's declined to comment on.

But as it turns out, Fallon isn't concerned about taking Leno's job - at least, not in a new interview with GQ.

"I mean, in the nicest way, who really cares," Fallon said. "In the nicest way. It would be great, sure, I guess. I'd love it, but it's not on my mind. I'm in no rush to do anything. I'm kind of a boring character in that book. I'm not in a fight with Jay or Conan, or any of them. I don't have that story."

But for "Late Night" producer Lorne Michaels, Fallon on "The Tonight Show" is less of an "if" than it is a "when."

"I'm not allowed to say it - yet," he told GQ. "But I think there's an inevitability to it. He's the closest to Carson that I've seen of this generation."

According to The New York Times' Bill Carter, Fallon may be moving to "Tonight" sooner than we think. On Wednesday, Carter cited "several senior television executives" who said that NBC has made a commitment to Fallon to have him succeed Leno as the next "Tonight" host, although a deal hasn't been set in stone.

The talkative execs said that the expectation is for the move to happen by the fall of 2014, at the latest. That would see "The Tonight Show" move from California back to New York.

For now Fallon's focused on creating accessible humor on "Late Night."

"I'm not doing something sneaky. Inside jokes, I don't like those. We can all ride together, and everyone's on the same thing," he said. "'Have fun' is my message. Be silly. You're allowed to be silly. There's nothing wrong with it."