Martin Short to Kick Off Jimmy Kimmel’s Guest Host Summer

Jimmy Kimmel’s now-annual summer vacation begins next week, and LateNighter has learned that Martin Short will sit in as his first guest host—and he’s making it quite the Only Murders in the Building promo event.

Short will begin his stint at the wheel of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, June 24, where he’ll be joined by his BFF and frequent co-star Steve Martin (who is also no slouch in the talk show guest department). The former SNL star will welcome even more of his Only Murders in the Building co-stars throughout the rest of the week as follows: 

Tuesday, June 25: Meryl Streep (who, for the record, is not dating Short, despite reports to the contrary)

Wednesday, June 26: Selena Gomez

Thursday, June 27: Melissa McCarthy (who will join the cast for Season 4 of the Hulu series, which premieres on August 27).

Short, who The New Yorker once called the “greatest talk show guest of all-time,” is not new to the world of hosting. In addition to hosting Saturday Night Live four times (just one gig shy of being a Five-Timer), the two-time Emmy winner was the namesake of three short-lived TV shows: The Martin Short Show, a 1994 episode that lasted just three episodes; The Show Formerly Known as the Martin Short Show, a 1995 sketch comedy show; and The Martin Short Show, a syndicated talk show that ran for one season—and which birthed the character of Jiminy Glick. 

Speaking of Glick: He’ll help Short get his feet wet for next week’s guest hosting appearance by sitting in Bill Maher’s chair (as Glick) this week on Real Time With Bill Maher—as he interviews Maher about his new book. 

According to ABC, other guest hosts set to fill in for Kimmel this summer include Anthony Anderson, Kathryn Hahn, Kumail Nanjiani, Lamorne Morris, Jeff Goldblum, RuPaul, Ryan Reynolds, and Hugh Jackman.

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This summer marks the fourth year Kimmel has taken a break from hosting duties. He did it first in 2020, then again in 2021 and 2022. He likely would have followed suit last year, had the WGA strike not already shut late-night production down. In years past, Kimmel has invited a slew of top-tier names to keep his chair warm, including Dana Carvey, David Alan Grier, Chelsea Handler, Al Franken, Nikki Glaser, RuPaul, Sean Hayes, and Jeff Goldblum.

In the spring of 2022, Kimmel didn’t shy away from doing the guest host thing when he tested positive for COVID on two occasions and couldn’t do the show. That resulted in a number of memorable episodes, including one in which John Mulaney and Andy Samberg tag-teamed hosting duties (and interviewed each other).

No word yet on whether Glick will make an appearance.

2 Comments

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  1. Nan Richstone says:

    So about Martin Short – One of his earliest shows was The Associates, a comedy about a group of young lawyers who worked for Wilfred Hyde-White, who believe it or not was fabulous in a comedy role. Why doesn’t some service stream the show? It lasted I think for two seasons, although maybe only one.

    1. Jed Rosenzweig says:

      I remember The Associates! After Martin Short was on SNL, I think Comedy Central aired repeats of that show. I also thought it was funny.