Entertainment Weekly announced Wednesday that talk show host and "Saturday Night Live" alum Jimmy Fallon will be on the cover its Dec. 12 end of year "Best and Worst 2014" edition.

Highlighting Fallon's success as the heir to Jack Paar and Johnny Carson, the magazine celebrated Fallon's savvy of turning a television institution like NBC's "The Tonight Show" into a 21st-century viral hit across social media platforms and YouTube, since taking over Jay Leno's desk in February.

"He's probably more like Johnny [Carson] than any other host," Jay Leno said of Fallon. "Johnny was very boyish when he was 40 years old."

The publication goes further by stating that Fallon, 40, got to where he is by not only inviting celebrities and bringing in surprise cameos, but also heralding a variety show feel with games, fun sketches and live music from legends to trending performers, popular recording artists, cult bands and on-the-rise singers.

Appearing in a September broadcast, Fallon and Barbra Streisand, whom Fallon called the "unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime" highlight of the year, performed a duet that has received millions of views online. That performance marked an end to Streisand's 50-plus-year absence from the program since she refrained from the spotlight from a series of stage fright.

"People on the street are like, 'Dude -- you were with Barbra,'" Fallon said. "'Barbra! That's fantastic!' And I'm like, 'Really? Did we do that? That's amazing, but ... when was that, even?'"

An assist from the critically-acclaimed conscious hip-hop/neo-soul band The Roots helps, too. The band formerly served as the house band for NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" in 2009 before transitioning with Fallon to "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" earlier this year.

"The show feels different," Leno said when he returned as a guest on Nov. 7. "It's young, it's music-oriented. He does stuff I couldn't get away with. At some point, you can't pretend to know all of Jay Z's songs anymore."

Even with his success, Fallon says that his busy schedule keeps him from really cherishing big moments on-air, admitting that often forgets he's done something until he's reminded by friends, fans or press.

"I don't ever really know what I'm doing until we have some time off or someone asks about it. They'll say, 'You did a sketch with Carol Burnett on The Tonight Show.' And I'll be like, 'I did? That's right--I totally did that!' "

Among his many accomplishments this year, Fallon gained bonus points for showcasing that "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe can rap like a professional (which has received over 29 million views on Youtube), coaxing Will Smith do the Stanky Legg on-air (which has received over 21 million views on Youtube) and for having faced off against Emma Stone in a lip-sync battle (which has received over 37 million views on Youtube).

Fallon has become an Internet phenomenon with 1.8 million Twitter followers, 4 million Facebook followers and 5.2 million YouTube subscribers.

According to his EW editorial, the comedian has big goals for next year.

"I've gotta beat Emma Stone at lip-synching," Fallon said. "That's my 2015 goal."

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