Jiminy Glick Has Been Slaying—and Skewering

Martin Short as Jiminy Glick with Rob Lowe — Photo: Comedy Central / Courtesy: Everett Collection

Jiminy Glick is back. The loudmouth entertainment reporter—created and portrayed by Martin Short—is having a moment thanks to three late-night appearances in less than one week plus a guest hosting gig on Jimmy Kimmel Live! set for tonight.

While it might be tempting to call it a Glickaissance, the character has been a larger-than-life presence on screens (big and small) for 25 years.

On Friday, June 21, Glick played the part of guest host on Real Time with Bill Maher when he interviewed the show’s namesake about his new book, What This Comedian Said Will Shock You. It was the character’s first late-night TV appearance since 2017, though he now seems to be making up for lost time.

Just three days later, Glick broke Bill Hader in a pre-taped interview that aired during Monday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which Short is guest hosting this week. The segment aired moments after Short announced that he’d be handing over his Kimmel guest-hosting duties to Glick for a full episode that will air tonight. (On Wednesday night, Glick aired another pre-taped interview, this time with Sean Hayes, who Glick claimed not to recognize “at all because of the cosmetic surgery.”)

The Glick character originated on The Martin Short Show, a syndicated talk show the SNL and SCTV alum debuted in 1999.

“I was always fascinated by morons with power,” Short told Larry King of the idea behind Glick, who appeared in a recurring segment titled “Jiminy Glick’s La La Wood.” As a syndicated show with a late-night sensibility that was mostly aired in morning and daytime TV time slots, The Martin Short Show was cancelled in 2000 after just one season, but Glick lived to see another day.

In 2001, Short brought the character to Comedy Central for Primetime Glick—a sendup of late-night shows hosted by Glick and featuring celebrity interviews. Bill Maher and Steve Martin were his first guests.

Over two years and 30 episodes, Glick welcomed a long list of fellow SNL alums as guests, including Dennis Miller, Billy Crystal, Janeane Garofalo, Molly Shannon, Chevy Chase, Jon Lovitz, Chris Elliott, and Rob Schneider. In 2003, Glick earned Short an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program.

Primetime Glick wrapped up after three seasons, but the character kept going. In 2004, MGM released Jiminy Glick in Lalawood, a feature film co-starring Jan Hooks that was part traditional Glick interviews, part murder mystery.

Short next brought his alter ego to Broadway in Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, a stage show that saw Short reprise a number of characters from his career. (In the show, Glick would interview audience members—sometimes theatergoers actually pulled from the crowd, but typically a planted celebrity guest.)

Since then, Short has made Glick a recurring presence on many other shows, including MADtv, Saturday Night Live, Hollywood Squares, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Short also brought the character to Maya & Marty, the NBC primetime variety series he co-hosted with Maya Rudolph in 2016, which ran for just six episodes.

Part of Glick’s staying power might be that he has always maintained the distinct ability to turn the tables on even the most seasoned late-night hosts, sitting down with them for interviews in which they could barely get a word in. Here’s a look back at some of Glick’s most memorable chats with late-night personalities over the years.