Jimmy Kimmel Reveals ABC Bosses Wanted Jon Stewart to Host His Late-Night Show
What To Know
- Jimmy Kimmel revealed that ABC originally intended for Jon Stewart to host its late-night talk show before executives ultimately chose Kimmel instead.
- Kimmel shared that he was surprised by the decision, attributing it partly to being a less expensive option, and admitted he believed Stewart was the better choice for the role.
- Despite early challenges and controversies, Jimmy Kimmel Live! has aired over 3,500 episodes, with its recent return episode drawing 6.3 million viewers after a temporary suspension.
Jimmy Kimmel has revealed that ABC originally had his friend and fellow late-night host Jon Stewart in mind to host its late-night talk show back in the early 2000s.
Appearing on the latest episode of Ted Danson‘s Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, Kimmel said ABC was close to signing a deal with The Daily Show host before the executives changed their mind and decided to hire him instead.
“They wanted a traditional late-night talk show in that slot,” Kimmel said, per The Daily Beast, referring to how ABC was looking to replace Bill Maher‘s Politically Incorrect after it ended in 2002. “Jon and I have the same manager, James ‘Baby Doll’ Dixon, and James was about to close this deal for Jon to host the show.”
The comedian shared that then-ABC chairman Lloyd Braun ended up watching his tape and was like, “I think this might be the guy.”
“He brought the tape to (Disney CEO) Bob Iger, and Iger said, ‘Yeah, I think this might be the guy,’” Kimmel continued. “It was a very strange thing because [James] was in the difficult position of having to tell Jon, ‘Uh, you’re not going to ABC, but Jimmy is going to ABC.'”
At the time, Kimmel was known for his work on the Comedy Central sketch show The Man Show, and so was surprised that ABC would choose him to host a traditional late-night talk show.
“That was a mistake, by the way,” he told Danson. “They definitely should hire Jon. If I’m in that position, there’s no question I hire John 100 times out of a 100.”
Kimmel noted that he later asked Iger about why he decided to hire him over the more experienced Stewart, who had been hosting The Daily Show since 1999.
“[Iger] goes, ‘Well, you were cheaper.’ And everybody laughed, but I knew he wasn’t kidding,” Kimmel stated.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! premiered in 2003 and has since aired over 3,500 episodes. On the podcast, Kimmel admitted it’s his “vision of hell” watching back his first year of shows. “It took us a long time to figure it out,” he said, “and we’re very fortunate to get a long time to figure it out.”
He also shared how ABC was “good enough to keep us on the air” despite his mouth getting them into trouble. “I was causing trouble once every, like, two and a half months, some major thing was happening,” he recalled. “Something that came out of my mouth, you know, and caused a whole thing. It was just tumultuous.”
Kimmel’s show was temporarily suspended last month after backlash to comments the host made on-air about the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The suspension followed the refusal of powerful station group Nexstar to air the show on its 32 broadcast affiliates.
The suspension was later lifted, with Kimmel’s return show on Tuesday, September 23, reaching 6.3 million viewers, making it the second most-watched broadcast in the show’s history.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Weeknights, 11:35 pm ET/PT, ABC
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While I don't watch Kimmel regularly (I usually watched Jay Leno and occasionally, David Letterman, when his show began and now it's Colbert), I liked him when he hosted the Oscars and when I occasionally did view his show like when he came back after suspension or when Colbert was on his show and vice versa at the same time (of course, I taped both since I was at work and watched both immediately!).
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G
Derp. Every money-lover loves them some Jon Stewart. Stewart is too far into retirement to work a late-night show that back-breaking.
He can write any ticket for himself that one could dream up...including running for the nomination for El Presidente.
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R
Jimmy Kimmel is a sc um bag
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If you are a hateful Democrat, you are protected to say anything. But if you are Roseanne or Mel Gibson, absolutely not. Hmmmm
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G
Exactly !! Agree !! And if you’re a conservative you can get shot and killed !! Charlie Kirk was Murdered for his words. Then Kimmel got up and Lied his teeth out saying the shooter was MAGA. By the time Kimmel told his Lie the news was already out and available that the shooter did come from a MAGA family but HE the shooter had in recent years transitions to the hard left and had a Trans lover. Kimmel Knew all that and Still Lied. Dems, it’s what they do. 🙄
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