Back in July I was at the TCAs and Jimmy Kimmel was there to talk about the hosting the Emmys. After the panel a bunch of us got to talk to him and ask him questions. Even though back then he knew he was going to be doing a bunch of shows in Brooklyn, he didn’t know who his guests were going to be on Jimmy Kimmel Live almost four months ahead of time.
So one reporter asked him who he would like to have the show that he hasn’t already. The ABC late night host said, “I would like to have Letterman on the show. That would be a thrill for me personally.” Then someone else asked if he had tried to book The Late Show host and he said, “We have, we have. He’s always very nice and I think eventually, it will happen one day.” That one day will be tomorrow. So why does he want to interview Letterman more than anyone he hasn’t, he responded with “He is a guy I have idolized since I was a kid.” So back then when this was a fantasy, a reporter asked him how he thinks that interview would go if it became a reality. Here is how he responded about the possibility chatting on his show with his dream get, “I don’t think I will be able to speak any questions on the show. I really don’t want to have him on the show, but I do want to have him on the show. It will also be one of the most difficult shows of my life. I have to say for a 15 year old Jimmy Kimmel, it would be the greatest story ever.” So you will have to tune into ABC tomorrow night at 12m to find out if he will be able to ask him any questions and stare at the man whose name he wrote all over his notebooks when he was a teen.
But before we to watch him interview Letterman, we will get to see him chat will someone who is also an Idol to him. When I asked him who he put up there with Letterman as a person who is hard to interview because you respect them so much, he said “Howard Stern was one I felt like I had to prepare for. Some of the interviews you can bullshit your way through. You know you want to impress them.” Now the two of them are really good friends, so tonight you will get to see what it is like for Kimmel to talk to the Shock Jock now as compared to when he was on the show the first time way back when.
Also on the show tonight, because yes they are going on with it after Hurricane Sandy forced the cancellation of their first Brooklyn show yesterday, are Tracy Morgan and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.
UPDATE: Elsewhere in NY late night, Jimmy Fallon will have an audience once again on tonight’s Late Night on NBC at 12:37a. While David Letterman will go without, yes without, an audience again tonight The Late Show at 11:35p with The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore, Ken Burns and music from Andrew Bird. Seriously how awesome were both of their show’s yesterday! You know in a way I kind of liked the audienceless shows better because it feels more intimate for the television viewers.
