It’s been several years since a new host has joined the well-established lineup of late night television hosts, but change might be in the near future.During a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Jimmy Kimmel spoke about his upcoming job as host of the Oscars and his longtime career as host of Jimmy Kimmel Live.
The 56-year-old comedian has hosted just about everything there is to host in Hollywood, though he is currently hosting the 21st season of his own late night show.Jimmy Kimmel Live debuted in January 2003. At the time Kimmel was a newcomer, but has since become a late night staple. He’s currently the longest serving late night talk show host on air.
But after 21 years, Kimmel admitted he’s been thinking about his future.
During an episode of “Strike Force Five,” the podcast he recorded with fellow late night show hosts during the writers’ strike, he said it wasn’t until he was out of work that he realized how much he missed it.
“It’s hard to yearn for it when you’re doing it,” he said. “Wednesday night, I was very tired and I had all these scripts to go through — I had to revise and rewrite all these pitch ideas for the Oscars — and I was literally nodding off onto my computer. In those moments, I think, ‘I cannot wait until my contract is over.’ But then, I take the summer off or I go on strike, and you start going, ‘Yeah, I miss the fun stuff.’ ”
“I think this is my final contract. I hate to even say it, because everyone’s laughing at me now — each time I think that, and then it turns out to be not the case. I still have a little more than two years left on my contract, and that seems pretty good. That seems like enough.”
As for the future Kimmel…
“He is very accomplished,” the host said. “He speaks Italian, he plays the harmonica beautifully. He is an expert fly-fisherman. He does all these different things that I know I’m not actually going to do. He’s drawn some graphic novels that were very well-received. He’s very busy — it’s funny, whenever I think of what I’m going to do when I stop working, it all involves more work.”
We love you Jimmy and will support you no matter what you choose to do!