ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday marked the 23rd anniversary of its “super” debut.
The late-night talker premiered January 26, 2003, as part of ABC’s post-Super Bowl XXXVII lineup. Following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 48-21 trouncing of the Oakland Raiders, ABC first served up the Alias Season 2 episode “Phase One” (which introduced Rutger Hauer’s Geiger as a missing Arvin Sloane’s SD-6 replacement).
The inaugural Jimmy Kimmel Live! followed, with guests George Clooney, Snoop Dogg, and Coldplay.
Kimmel had been tapped to host of ABC’s first late-night talker in decades in November 2022, coming off a four-season run on Comedy Central’s The Man Show sketch comedy series.
On socials, Kimmel shared on Monday afternoon, “23 years ago @JimmyKimmelLive was born. Thanks to those who’ve been with us from the beginning and the friendly hitchhikers we picked up along the way.”
Said message was accompanied by a scan of the print ad that touted the show’s post-Super Bowl launch, promising “Comedy Without a Net.”
For its first 10 years, Jimmy Kimmel Live! aired weeknights on ABC at 12:05 a.m. In that time slot, it led out of ABC News’ Nightline and competed against the back halves of NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman, as well as the first half-hour of NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien and CBS’ The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn.
In January 2013, the program moved up to the 11:35 p.m. time slot it has since called home.
Kimmel famously was taken off the air for a few days this past September, after Trump-appointed FCC chair Brendan Carr nudged affiliates to bench the program. Kimmel came back bolder than ever, and recently announced that he has inked a contract extension that’ll keep him on ABC through the 2026-27 TV season.
Minor error: You called Letterman’s program “Late Night” instead of “Late Show” 🙂
Fixed! Thank you for the catch,