Jimmy Kimmel is the odd man in on late night this week, with Jimmy Kimmel Live! turning out new episodes as most of late night takes an extended Memorial Day break.
Kimmel, who was off Monday for the holiday, returns Tuesday with the first of three new episodes this week when he welcomes Emily Blunt and chef José Andrés. Wednesday night’s show features Jennifer Lopez, Daily Show correspondent Josh Johnson, and musical guest Stella Lefty. Kimmel is scheduled to wrap up the week Thursday with Dan Levy, Lamorne Morris, and a musical performance from She & Him.
And Kimmel won’t exactly be coasting into the weekend. After producing new episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live! through Thursday, he’s set to spend Friday through Sunday shooting the entire fifth season of ABC’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which is scheduled to return Wednesday, July 22.
Most of the other nightly shows are dark this week, with The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Daily Show, and Watch What Happens Live all off for the holiday week. All four are set to return with new episodes Monday, June 1.
Helping to keep the lights on at ABC with new episodes this week is Kimmel’s lead-out Nightline. Also producing new shows this week are Fox News Channel’s Gutfeld! and Kimmel’s new 11:35 p.m. CBS competitor, Byron Allen’s Comics Unleashed, which is set to air never-before-seen episodes in the first half-hour of its hourlong block Tuesday through Friday.
The mostly dark week comes as the traditional 2025–26 broadcast TV season officially wrapped last week—and with CBS’ late-night transition now underway following the end of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
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He won’t cannibalize Colbert’s paltry audience.
Just cause YOU want it to happen, doesn’t mean it will! If anything, Kimmel will pick up a lot of Colbert’s audience!
Stephen more or less consistently beat or tied both Kimmel and Fallon in the ratings for the last decade. If Kimmel were to get all of Stephen’s viewers that didn’t see Jimmy to begin with, his ratings would (at the most) double. Simple math.
I understand detractors will say that Colbert’s numbers are lower than Johnny Carson’s from 40 years ago or a prime time show on Fox News, but to say that Colbert had “no ratings” or that his ratings were paltry is simply untrue.
Aren’t you all supposed to be so wise?
The ratings will decline precociously as they have all around, and then you Kamala voters will then pivot to blaming anything else and saying it’s fine when it’s not because of that pesky thing called advertisers, which Colbert was hemorrhaging a lot in the past decade aka his entire CBS run, making him a managed decline.
So as I’ve said many times, and I will have to say many more times because you boomers have the attention span of a toddler, this entire format is unviable. The suits, the bloated staff and fixed time doesn’t work anymore when there is so much competition literally everywhere else now for time.
Boomers don’t understand this and never will. So as you guys march off off into the afterlife you’ll be taking all your idiosyncrasies and anachronisms with you.
Now watch, everyone, how this Millennial loser will attack me with tears in its eyes, because it despises being criticized by its betters!
Stephen killed “The Late Show.” He was like a lapdog for Elitist Dumbacrats. His show could have attracted over four million viewers per night had he not gone so one-sided. Johnny Carson equally ripped on both Parties and did so in a non-offensive (to half of the country) way. It was silly, biting, and hilarious. I got the feeling that Stephen looked down at his viewers. The Market (ratings/revenue) dictated the show’s ending.
It was Drumpf who killed the Late Show, because he despises people criticizing him!
Why tf do Drumpftards like you despise freedom of speech?
Dumb move by nbc to go dark this week
It’s Memorial Day week— they also probably had it stipulated long ago to take that week off to keep the budget in line. Fallon did have a new episode on Friday to compete against the first 11:35 edition of Comics Unleashed, though.
These guys are NOT competitive. Now is the time for James on ABC to take the Lead, but they continue to produce only four shows per week, and have more recent reruns than new content. The probles with the network shows is that they are not focussed on Broadcasting which is their bread and butter. I do not fault James for wanting to take the summer off. However, now is the time to bring people back to ABC Late Night with “live,” new content five nights per week. It will NOT happen because of Unions. LOL.
I do not begrudge Jimmy for wanting to take the summer off. However, guest hosts do not pull in the ratings, and now is the time for Jimmy to take the Lead. With Stephen now gone, Jimmy/ABC now have the opportunity to produce new shows, and bring back summer concert series.