Ladies, gentlemen and viewers from all over, here is your new host of "The Tonight Show" - Jimmy Fallon.

The funnyman made his official and highly anticipated debut on Monday taking over the reins from Jay Leno and bringing the late night show back to New York for the first time since Johnny Carson shipped it off to Los Angeles, Calif., in 1972.

"Welcome to the Tonight Show!" Fallon told his audience. "This is the first 'Tonight Show' broadcast from New York in over 40 years. I'm Jimmy Fallon and I'll be your host...for now."

Fallon continued: "Of course, I wouldn't be here tonight if it weren't for the previous 'Tonight Show' hosts, so I want to say 'thank you' to Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno."

The 39-year-old expressed his gratitude for his new gig, talked about childhood memories, introduced his band, The Roots, and announcer, Steve Higgins, and introduced his parents, who were in the studio audience

Fallon then took a moment to introduce himself and gave a rundown about how each episode will work.

"Our show starts with the monologue for the first 10 minutes," he said. "I'll stand over.. and read jokes off a cue card. These are jokes based off what's going on in the news. I'll make fun of everybody."

Fallon added: "My goal is just to make you laugh and put a smile on your face so that you go to sleep with a smile on your face and live a longer life. Isn't that the whole goal of what we're doing? To have fun?"

Fallon then joked about the Olympics and offered sympathy to NBC sportscaster Bob Costas, who suffered from pinkeye and was sidelined. He then mentioned his unnamed friend who owed him a hundred bucks.

After his announcement, actor Robert De Niro burst through the curtain and handed a hundred dollars to Fallon. De Niro was followed by a parade of other celebrities including Joe Namath, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Lindsay Lohan, Lady Gaga, Mike Tyson, Stephen Colbert and Sarah Jessica Parker.

The show also included a dance session with actor Will Smith, performance by rock group, U2, and appearances by Joan Rivers, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan and Mariah Carey,

"I just want to do the best I can and take care of this show for a while," Fallon told viewers. "If you guys let me stick around long enough, maybe I'll get the hang of it."

What did you think of Fallon's first "Tonight Show?"