With the SuperBowl coming up, it will soon be a year since Jimmy Kimmel Live debuted.

The question is: Is anybody watching? I faithfully watched for months, even listened on the ABC simulcast on the drive home from work (all two blocks of it), I saw Ralphie May fall down the stairs, I saw Cousin Sal spraypaint a guest host's car. And then, I got my medication adjusted. Wow, what was I thinking? My TvGuide says it's all new tonight, I may peek in but anymore it's like Kryptonite to me. How does this stay on the air? A pact with Satan? I just don't get it.

``I have a lot more compassion now for people doing their first show,'' says
Kimmel, just before the first anniversary of his show.

``The reality is you have to make a thousand decisions in, like, a two-month
span of time. And, you know, you're going to make a hundred of those decisions
wrong.''

``Every night, I pray for better guests,'' says Kimmel, only half-jokingly.
``Some nights, it goes all right but some nights it doesn't.

``What I have learned,'' he adds, ``is that when the guests leave angry, they
don't come back. And their publicists don't bring any of their other clients
back either.''

As for the departure of Kellison -- who worked with the comedian on ``The Man
Show'' and is still his partner on Comedy Central's ``Crank Yankers'' -- Kimmel
says that ``when you're getting a show on the air, you have to beat a lot of
people over the head. Daniel did all the beating over the head and everybody
remembered it.''

http://www.pe.com/entertainment/stories/PE...bit21.ec3c.html

The link is subscription only... I couldn't find another link on the web for it.

I like the show and have a season pass for it on my tivo. I don't always watch the guests, but I do like the opening bits and the skits.

I think it's alright. The opening monologue has become sort of an appointment for me, and I think he's already much better than Craig and is pretty much even with Carson. The jokes are right on; I think he and Dave got the same joke about Howard Dean's exploding head the same night, so he's running with the right crowd. He needs better guests, of course, but remember, Conan had no guests of import his first two years and he sucked big fat nut back then.

Did anyone catch last week's episode where they did a remote at the Neverland Ranch where all those nutjobs were going to stage a rally for Michael before his arraignment? They gave the mic to one protestor who defended his name by saying, "He's given so much to this world ... and if he wants to sleep with Latin kids, let him!" A lady took the microphone away from him and a guy grabbed a poster and put it right in front of him. I gasped and laughed my ass off for a good minute. Ah, the joys of live television.

I watched last night for only the fifth time ever(he cuts into my Conan time people). I've only seen the premiere and I just realized 3 other times all had American Idol people on it, what the hell? Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, and to watch Jimmy rip Ryan Seacrest a new one. Last night I only watched because Adam Brody was on.

I had forgotten how funny the opening of this show is. I sat there gasping for air during the crazy Michael Jackson supporter montage. That guy is off his rocker or just a camerawhore. And that Turkey/Poland lady with all that long chin hair, ew.

Oh and, Denzel.Washington's.finger. Wtf? That was hilarious and slightly disturbing.

I liked Tuesday's episode with what seems to be two "games" JK has on his show. He did "Who Do You Like Better?" (which I haven't seen before) with Simon Cowell; Jimmy held up two photos of two people and asks who he likes better. They were inspired: Ruben or Clay? (Ruben, because he was selling more records, which is incorrect.) Elton John or Sting? (Sir Elton "100%, because he doesn't take himself so seriously." Are you sure you don't have them mixed up?) Prince Charles or Prince? ("I have to go to the one that has a career so ... Prince Charles.")

After Nicole Ritchie did her interview (and she and Simon went at it; she told him to his face that he wouldn't criticize anyone sitting next to him) Jimmy brought out, for what I think is only the second time, the Mystery Box. Fun little idea where the guests take turns answering yes-or-no questions and guessing what's in the box. (It turned out to be sea monkeys.) One of Simon's questions: "Can I use it to poison a person seated next to me?"

I think Kimmel has stumbled on a trick to make his show better: Find a simple, easy-to-understand concept and have fun with it. It seems harder and harder to do that, but I think he's found it with these two games. Oh yeah, these two and "Touch The Head."

Add me to the (evidently) short list of those who like this show. I especially liked Warren Sapp as the guest host. The segment where Sapp was dressed as Star Jones and superimposed on the View segment with Naomi Watts still has me giggling.

Has anyone heard anything about this show having SAG-related problems? I read this on a livejournal, so I realize that the info is not the most reliable, but that would explain why a few guests who were supposed to be on--and who I wanted to see--had to cancel. Anyone?

Does anyone know why they weren't allowed to show any clips from the Academy Awards on the show?

Bump.

JKL has gotten funnier and sharper lately, and it has become a more-than-decent altertnative to Jay and Dave. I like his visual gags a lot:

- Kimmel said one of his writers boasted he has a great impression of Al Michaels (I think this was two weeks ago). He said Michaels's famous line from the Miracle On Ice: "Do you believe in miracles? Yes" in a flat monotone which sounded nothing like him. Then Linda Cardellini, star of ER and Scooby-Doo 2 came out and Kimmel said that the same writer does a great impression of her. And so he comes back out, wearing an orange turtleneck like Velma, and did his impression of her: "Velma, do you believe in miracles? Jinky!" LMAO. But I guess you had to be there to appreciate it.

- The fake photos on those copious black construction papers he holds up all the time are getting much better, too. I remember Kimmel talking about a Kenyan winning yet another marathon and he started going through all the races Kenyans have captured. The funniest one was a picture of a Kenyan taking the checkered flag at the Daytona 500.

- Also, there was a funny fake one from the rerun Monday, I think. It was the day after the Oscars and they couldn't show footage of the event (and BTW, I don't know why). But they had a police sketch artist draw some of the highlights, and the best one was a picture of Jesus and Seabiscuit presenting an award.

- He's even getting the band in on the action. Jimmy touched on this report about anger management and said that Cleto and the Asian member of his band were fighting. Jimmy asked if they were cool now. Cleto said yes, but the camera panned to the keyboardist wearing a smashed guitar around his neck. Old gag, but it worked.

I don't know if there are any detractors, but this has gotten to be a good talk show within a span of a year. Conan needed at least two years to find his footing.

By the way, did anyone catch last week's show where they all were lying down like they were asleep or dead? It was a bumper teasing Tesla in the next segment. What was the deal with that?

I must admit -- and I am a die hard Dave fan -- if Letterman's first guest sucks, I flip to Jimmy. Kimmel's opening remarks are quite humorous.

Of course, the fact Jimmy openly mocks Leno adds to my Dave / Jimmy Love Fest.

And don't forget his close friendship with the girls of The View.

Yeah, he does seem to have had a case of "Conan Syndrome", where it took him ahwhile to find his stride, but he seems to be getting it now.

I usually watch the opening few minutes, anyway: I find his opening bits pretty funny, since he's so very much like a TWOP'er in many respects. (Though I do think he could stand to cut back considerably on the Cousin Sal/Uncle Frank stuff.)

I like his willingness to comment on (ie be snide, snarky and downright obnoxious about) pop-culture. He had a few hysterical bits awhile back about Forever-Eden and Playing it Straight. And only on JK can Kermit-the-Frog be downright raunchy!

I usually tune out when he brings the guests on, though, 'cause that's when he becmoes an obseqious asshat. (Witness when he had Clay Aiken on.)

So have they completely gotten rid of the guest co-hosts? That was one of the best parts of the show imo.

Was it my imagination, or did Uncle Frank get bleeped by the censors last night?

I don't know for sure, but it looks like they got rid of the co-hosts. To work you needed better guests than Zach Galifianakis and Kathy Griffin, and they could only get the star power of Snoop Dogg and Enrique Iglesias sporadically. Noble try, and maybe they can revive it if Snoop's ready to rock the couch for another week.

What did y'all think of the Quentin Tarantino-directed episode tonight? I totally forgot it and missed the first 20 minutes getting home from work. It appeared like the vast majority, if not the entire show was scripted. Certainly was ... different from what I usually see from a talk show, and bad acting and mangling of "Carl" Ripken, Jr.'s name aside, I wouldn't mind seeing him do it again, if nothing else just to see as graphic a sight as I've ever seen on free TV: Jimmy's face after getting his ass kicked by Steven Wright, of all people.

I found it very fun to watch especially for a show on after midnight. One of my favorite parts was when the entire auidence pulled out a gun. I think that jimmy Kimmel really doesn't mind going for the joke. Whether it was halloween or looking that you just got the crap kicked out of you for the whole show. i also Liked the swinging in the air Uncle Frank. I also liked the very ending when everyone in the suido laid dead and the only thing auidable was QT's laughing. He ruined it with the pimping of his movie though.

I didn't see last night's episode (had to get up this morning for a meeting), but I will weigh in on the co-host. I don't miss the co-host at all. Jimmy's fine (and very funny) talking straight to the audience at the beginning of the show. There are times when that's the best thing I've seen on TV that night.

Ass-O-Rama (Omarosa for the Apprentice impaired) was supposed to be on the show tonight, but walked out after she saw the lie detector that was going to be used on Uncle Frank. According to the show's producers, she would not do the show as long as a lie detector was there. She, her mommy and her publicist all high-tailed it out of there, during the show.

I guess the fact that the audience booed her when her name was announced didn't help matters either.

Gosh that was HILARIOUS. At first I thought it was some bit until the producer came out. Wow.

Heh.
That was awesome!
And when the audience booed? Hee.
Man, as if Assorama needed more image problems! I also thought it was a gag, especially when they were talking about her being afraid of the lie detector!

And Camryn Manheim? Seemed pretty cool about the whole thing, even getting in a few digs a Assorama's expense.

We should e-mail the Kimmel show. Jimmy should offer Assorama 250 000 to take the lie detector. Think of the free publicity

Okay, I don't even like Jimmy that much, but his "unnecessary censorship" bit is one of the funniest things I've ever seen on TV. Or maybe my mind is just filthier than most.

Guests are getting better, jokes have been kind of flat recently, but I love the recurring gag promoting "Who Will Win Barbara Walter's Baby?" It looks like the five couples have to run The Amazing Race to adopt the teenager's shorty. He's doing a great job convincing people this "special" actually is a reality show competition. In fact, I think it is!

Loved "Pat the Head" last night.

So I fell asleep last night near the beginning of the show. Did "Baby Merle" the parakeet get a home with someone? Hope so.

LadyJaney, I flipped to the middle of the announcement, but they awarded Merle to this hella strange couple with matching country denim shirts (with those curlicues on them). Dickie presented the good-looking other couple with the consolation prize: a bucket from Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Lindsay Lohan was on tonight. Not a bad interview, but am I the only one who kept looking at her enormous rack and noticed the many times she pulled up her tank top to avoid falling out of it? For anyone who saw her on Saturday Night Live and was burning up the show's thread talking about her appearance in the Harry Potter sketch, this is either a welcome sequel, a trigger of uneasy thoughts or, in my case, both. And for those that did not see the show and/or talk about it on TWoP, the fact that her breasts kept bouncing every time she giggled at something JK said surely would've done the trick.

Seems like he's still getting aced out of primo guests plugging their movies, so they decided on the next best thing: getting those guests the week after their movie opens. Kind of like interviewing a "pre-owned" guest.

Do they not use the outdoor stage anymore? I think Kinky (they have a great dance song, "Mas," that was featured in a Nissan commercial, an episode of Alias and the miniseries Kingpin) is big enough to justify its use.

I would think the outdoor stage is a lot of trouble (and/or a lot of money) for ABC, the producers, the LAPD, and people trying to drive through Hollywood, since it requires closing down a block of Hollywood Boulevard all evening.

Nope.

According to the listings, she was also scheduled to be on Last Call with Carson Daly -- which apparently no one around here cares enough to talk about -- but in some kind of switch, that actually played the night before. Which makes more sense: how could she be on both shows on the same day? (Although I guess they will tape Last Call ahead of time.) She was also on Ellen today (haven't seen it), but that looks like the end of the promo run for Mean Girls.

I've noticed at the beginning of the show, a small disclaimer in the upper left hand corner of screen says "recorded earlier tonight". I take it Kimmel is no longer "live"?

I'm also assuming it has something to do with Janet Jackson Fallout ™. Anyone know the answer?

Skategrrl: yes, all week Jimmy has been grousing about the FCC keeping a watchful eye on them, to make sure they don't expose any more nipples. That's why they've been showing their own absolutely hilarious arbitrary bleeping bits (I can't remember the name of the bit), where they take actual news and interview footage and stick in bleeps and blurrings at innocuous moments. It makes your imagination run wild and in turn the footage seems completely filthy.

My favorite moment was when they showed Rumsfeld taking the oath before his testimony. They blurred out his hand so it looked like he was giving the panel the finger.

I hated Jimmy's show when it first started, it was just awful and sophomoric, but damn it's a funny show now. He's a refreshing change from the celebrity-publicist-fueled ass-kissing that goes on on the other shows.

Yup, Kimmel is no longer live, as the show admitted after last week's Advil overdose.

They tape an hour early, at 8 PT, because of Miss Janet. You'll notice that it's still somewhat daylight outside when the show begins.

And they still call it "Jimmy Kimmel Live", yet tape it because they're afraid a nipple or a four-letter word shows up?
Makes you wonder if ABC will be keeping this show, if this is the kind of support
it gets

I watched some of the show tonight because I saw Jamie Gertz while I was flipping channels. I've always avoided it because it replaced Politically Incorrrect here, and the rerun of Oprah comes on before it. So far, I like it better than Conan or Kilbourn.

queasy


HUGE word on that, last Friday I was laughing to the point of tears.

I thought the Bingo concept was quite good, very Lettermanesque. And I roared over Jimmy winning the first game.

The Ryan Seacrest interview was funny, too...the Brawny model was a riot.

I never understood why ABC calls the show "Jimmy Kimmel Live", yet it's taped at one hour delay...
but after reading what Kimmel said during the ABC upfront, I'm starting to wonder if he'll even have a show. He really mocked his bosses, according to Zap2It. the story is here, although I hope he only said that to ease the tension.
I like his show. His style is more "everyman", and I'd rather see him there than at Comedy Central.

Yeah, I always wonder why they call it "Saturday Night Live," when it's on tape for half the country.

But seriously, it makes no sense to change the name at this point. All the good names are taken (Late Night, Late Show.) Besides, Kimmel is almost, sorta, kinda live. Or at least he's still fresh, with the ability to mock the latest news or what just happened in primetime. On the other hand, there's a 10-hour difference between when Conan is taped and when I get to see it.

As for the mockery, I wouldn't make a big deal of it. I think basically it's Kimmel's job to ridicule the network. Every year, NBC trots out Conan O'Brien to mock NBC. ("NBC: At Least We're Not ABC," he said last week.)

At ABC, there's absolute positivity about the network's prospects. And each year they have to face the cynical advertisers. You need someone to bridge that gap. That's where Kimmel comes in. His mockery is an indirect way of saying that ABC isn't deluded -- they know they have problems.

Well, maybe you're right. I'm just a little surprised by how much he got away with. All I know is I hope to get into his show again if I have a chance to do that again.

Wait, so Kimmel isn't live in the East? Then why not call it "The Jimmy Kimmel Show"? At least SNL is actually live in the Eastern and Central time zones.

Re: Kimmel's comments:

I don't know if I'm right about whether it was all pre-planned, but in the next-day stories about ABC's upfront presentation, TV critics who were there only quoted Kimmel on his innocuous comments without ever mentioning the really harsh mockery. It didn't emerge until days later, by an LA Weekly reporter who wasn't there, that Kimmel was mean-spirited.

So I figure that the critics knew it was all shtick, because they witness it the three times a year they attend network press conferences.

Also, I think they're not changing the "Live" part because they figure the delay is only temporary. They're waiting until Janet Jackson blows over. (During the Iraq war, they were on a 15-minute delay because of an extended Nightline each night.)

But I have to admit that it looks really weird when Jimmy enters his studio in pure daylight.

I live in Michigan (EST) and we don't see Kimmel "Live" either. I am not sure that the show is broadcast live anywhere anymore.
Also, I know that post-booby, the show went on a delay, but it was still being shown in nearly real-time.

The show only recently became not so live. And as someone else mentioned, this is only a temporary thing from the FCC, not permanent. The fact that it is so close to live really sets it apart from the other late night shows. It's great to tune in & see Jimmy using clips from reality shows or whatever that have just ended a couple hours ago. Very fresh.

Not that I don't love Dave & Conan [because I do], but I've been gradually developing my love for Jimmy Kimmel Live, too. It causes me to be shunned by others, but I do think it's a very good show [in spite of having generally bad guests].

This show is definitely growing on me: I think JK is definitely coming into his own. He dropped the "Co-Host" shtick, thankfully, and is beginning to ge some decent guests. (The interview with Kathy Griffin, in particular, was amazing! And the "Down-Low" references from her? Priceless.)

Now, if he would just cut the bullshit with his family, I'd be happy. (I really don't give a shit about Cousin Sal, Uncle Frank, or any of the rest of the family.)

I'm not a big fan of Cousin Sal...but not because he's Jimmy's cousin...just because I don't really find him to be all that funny. Sometimes he makes me cringe when I watch his segments. But he's not horrible. I find Uncle Frank to be very cute. I don't really like a lot of the sidekick type characters on shows [people on Conan excluded, of course].

I think the show has steadily gotten better & better. It reminds me of me & my best friend's vision of our late night show. With lots of random games & non-gimmicky gimmicks. I loved the crowd playing Bingo & I love Touch the Head. The show has features that are almost like a inside jokes for regular viewers & I appreciate that. I think this show is taking some risks & reminds me of what I remember of Letterman's old show sometimes.

Last night's bit, about asking the people standing in line to name as many anti-depressants as they could, was great.

ETA you're right, it was on Kilbourn. Never Mind! Kimmel comes on later here. I must have watched Kilbourn after Letterman instead of the Oprah rerun that comes on before Kimmel. Excuse me.

I'm confused...wasn't that on Kilborn's show?

(Yes, I channel flip frequently between Kilborn, Conan and Kimmel.)

This week in unneccessary censorship was great, especially the part with Alex Trebeck. Alanis Morissette frenching Barry Manilow's picture was good, but I thought it was Rod Stewart at first.

OK, why was Jimmy Kimmel not on tonight?! He was scheduled for a new show.

I hope ABC didn't punish him for this.

ETA: Oops -- I meant why is tonight's show a repeat? .... And I think I might have the answer. Must've been the late-starting basketball game.

He is on, on my tv. I have no idea if its new or not because I don't ever watch it but the show is on.

eta; its not new.