TV

Jimmy Fallon’s dream guest: The Queen!

Jimmy Fallon has a cold.

It’s Monday, one week from his debut as host of “The Tonight Show,” and Fallon is battling a prolonged hangover coupled with a wicked virus he caught from his 7-month-old baby girl, Winnie.

“I went out after Friday and celebrated with everybody from the show … we went to this chicken wing place Turntable [in Koreatown] and then a couple friends came back to my apartment after and on Saturday, my body, my immune system was like, ‘What is wrong with you?!’

“I can’t do that anymore,” says the 39-year-old, punctuating his sentence with a big old yawn.

Despite the raspy voice and bowl of chicken soup his assistant’s keeping warm outside his swank office at 30 Rock, Fallon assures us he’ll be in fighting form come this Monday, when he takes over Jay Leno’s perch at 11:35 p.m. on NBC.

“I’ve been practicing for five years at 12:37. 12:37 by the way. Not even 12:30. God, what a weird time. How do you get people to watch you at 12:37?” asks Fallon, who hosted his “Late Night” finale Feb. 7. “So many people haven’t seen our show because they just can’t stay up that late,” he says. “I think it’s just going to be fun for people to watch and say, ‘Oh yeah. That could be my guy. I didn’t know he existed.’”

Fallon’s opening in his new timeslot with an A-list roster including Will Smith and U2 for Night One, and Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga and Michelle Obama slated to appear later in the week.

It’s a strong start for a “friendly rivalry” with his new late-night co-horts Jimmy Kimmel on ABC and David Letterman on CBS, neither of whom Fallon has had contact with since being named Leno’s heir apparent last March — save for a recent e-mail from Kimmel and a congratulatory call and annual Christmas gift from Letterman. “[Dave] gives me a Letterman varsity jacket every year,” says Fallon, with a laugh. “I don’t know where I could wear it. Especially this year, he gave me a double XL, so he thought I was getting really heavy,” he says, adding in typically earnest Fallon fashion, “but it’s really nice of him to get me one. They’re nice jackets.”

Fallon says he doesn’t “tend to watch” his competitors — for good reason.

“I feel as an impersonator I might end up imitating them, so I haven’t seen [Kimmel’s] show in five years, but I know the twerking thing. I fell for it,” he says of a viral prank started by Kimmel (who posted a video of an out-of-control twerking girl). He’s also familiar with Kimmel’s “Halloween candy thing,” where Kimmel has parents tell their children they’ve eaten all their Halloween candy (with the kids’ responses caught on videotape). “That’s a big deal,” he says. “It’s kind of fun. It keeps us working, keeps us as creative as possible.”

One advantage Fallon does have on Kimmel is New York City, with “The Tonight Show” moving back to 30 Rock, 42 years after Johnny Carson left for Burbank. And Fallon is primed to show the city off “as much as I can,” he says.

“I love this city,” he says. “I’ve already talked to [Jets owner] Woody Johnson, already talked to the [Giants owners] Maras; you know, the Yankees are cool, we’ve done bits with them. There’s so much stuff to play with, from Broadway to fashion,” he says. “Maybe we’ll do a version of ‘Project Runway’ on our show. I’ll have to call Anna Wintour and see if she’ll hook me up with up-and-comers. Why not?

“We’re just looking for fun things to do,” Fallon says of his show plans, which include taking it on the road to LA and potentially to Chicago and Philadelphia, the city from which the show’s band, The Roots, hails. “We’ll see what gets some traction,” he says. “Anything that’s not funny, we’ll probably do two or three more times and then never do it again.”

As for guests, Fallon says there’s only one that’s evaded him. “I’d love to have the Queen come by,” he says. “She doesn’t even have to come over. She could just Skype, you know?”

Given the fact that Fallon managed to convince President Obama to slow-jam the news, anything is possible — which is exactly what excites the new “Tonight Show” host. “I want to see how big we can make it and how much fun we can have and how many memorable things we can create,” says Fallon. “Making memories. That’s the goal now. Making some good TV memories.”