noah | February 18, 2009 11:45 am

Because NBC is too cheap to pay royalties to music publishers, the Roots have to write some 200 songs for their stint as the house band on Jimmy Fallon‘s upcoming late-night talk show; they’ve written 55 so far. At least the idea-strapped network isn’t so stingy as to not give the guys time off—the band will be allowed to tour 10 weeks a year, provided Fallon’s show lasts that long, of course. [RS]