was stunted early on by an ABC affiliate body which was fulfilling existing syndication contracts for post-local news sitcom repeats and entertainment newsmagazines and thus delaying the show (and making the "Live!"
[8] Nightline, which premiered in 1979 during the Iran hostage crisis, was able to compete with the Tonight Show, particularly on days when there were major news events or ongoing crises.
[9] Following the subsequent retirements of Jay Leno in February 2014, David Letterman in May 2015, and Jon Stewart in August 2015, Kimmel became the third-longest serving current host in late-night television after Conan O'Brien and Bill Maher.
[13][14][15] On August 15, 2019, ABC and the show were fined $395,000 via a settlement by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for misusing the Emergency Alert System (EAS) tone on the October 3, 2018, episode.
"[22][23] Contrary to its name, Kimmel has not aired live editions regularly since 2004; instead, it is recorded at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time (7:30 p.m. Eastern) on the day of broadcast outside special episodes.
would suspend production due to the ongoing wildfires in the Southern California region, where El Capitan, the filming spot for the show, is located.
The other "Cletones" of the band are Cleto Escobedo Jr., the bandleader's father, on tenor and alto saxophone, Jeff Babko on keyboards, Toshi Yanagi on guitar, Jimmy Earl on bass, and Jonathan Dresel on drums.
The show's opening theme was written by Les Pierce, Jonathan Kimmel and Cleto Escobedo III and sung by Robert Goulet.
Parking lot security guard Guillermo Rodriguez became the sidekick of the show after he was caught sleeping in announcer Dicky Barrett’s car.
Damon appears briefly in a full grape suit, only to be informed his scene had been cut from the "film" after which he is shown storming out of the studio (as part of the trailer), cursing at Kimmel.
Later, Damon appeared in a sketch about the movie that Affleck stars in, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, reprising his role as astronaut Mark Watney.
Instead, Justin Timberlake emerged wearing Boston Red Sox apparel and carrying a Dunkin' Donuts coffee cup, loosely in character as Matt Damon.
In a segment that aired on January 31, 2008, Kimmel's then long-time girlfriend Sarah Silverman appeared on the show and announced, via a music video, that she had been "fucking Matt Damon.
In addition to Affleck, the video featured Robin Williams, Don Cheadle, Harrison Ford, Hynden Walch, Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate, Benji Madden and Joel Madden from Good Charlotte, Dicky Barrett, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Lance Bass, Dominic Monaghan, Meat Loaf, Pete Wentz, Joan Jett, Huey Lewis, Perry Farrell, Macy Gray, Rebecca Romijn, Josh Groban, Jessica DiCicco, and unnamed choir singers as recording booth singers, along with Brad Pitt as a delivery man.
The video gained widespread media attention, with Kimmel jokingly telling the New York Times, "Every once in a while, Hollywood rallies itself for a worthy cause.
The show had numerous guests, including Nicole Kidman, Gary Oldman, Amy Adams, Reese Witherspoon, Demi Moore, and Sarah Silverman, along with an on-screen cameo by Ben Affleck during Damon's monologue.
There were also numerous taped pieces congratulating Damon on hosting, including by Jennifer Lopez, Sally Field, John Krasinski, Robert De Niro, Don Cheadle, Oprah Winfrey, and Kimmel's parents.
The 3D image, which was first used during Lionel Richie's outdoor stage performances in the September 16, 2006, episode, was created by artists Colin Cheer and Brian Walters.
Later, the traditional city duratrans was replaced with a large floor-to-ceiling curved video display known as the "Wall of America", which most of the time displays the traditional background, but is now also able to be used for video pieces and bits, along with interviews (including ones where Kimmel is not at his desk; an instance of this was an interview through Cisco's Jabber Guest with actress Viola Davis after the first-season finale of How to Get Away with Murder in February 2015 where she was unable to fly to Los Angeles from the East Coast due to weather issues) which are branded under Cisco Systems's telepresence technology.
On occasion, a special live edition is broadcast, usually after major events like the Academy Awards (except in years where Kimmel has hosted the actual ceremony).
For ABC's O&O stations and some affiliates, Kimmel does tape a promo introducing the night's guests and bits meant to be bedded into a late segment of their local newscasts.
The show's original opening sequence was a fly around of Hollywood before transitioning to Kimmel entering the theater as he flips the switch from the left side.
It was later changed to a stop-motion piece which showcased Kimmel in casual gear with his dry cleaning stopping at various places in Hollywood until arriving at the theater.
Starting in late September 2020, upon Kimmel's return to the studio, a picture of the classic 1962 ABC ID, fully recreated to fit the widescreen format, alongside the animated version in the October 30, 2020 episode, was used.
[76] Additional "Mean Tweets" editions have aired, featuring celebrities including Robert De Niro, Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, Adam Sandler, Britney Spears, Sofía Vergara, Jon Hamm, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Aaron Paul, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Vanessa Hudgens, Tim Robbins, Hugh Grant and Bill Murray.
The tweets selected for the segment are invariably abusive, vulgar, or rude, often objecting to the celebrity's physical appearance or perceived lack of talent.
A Thursday-night segment, which features clips of innocuous television shows (such as newscasts) deliberately edited (typically with bleeps) to make them appear offensive.
A correspondent not seen on camera will ask pedestrians on Hollywood Boulevard a fake question related to an actual current news event.
In Australia, The Comedy Channel began airing the program in September 2009; however, it was replaced in March 2010 by the return of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Even after its move to 11:35, Citytv continued to tape delay the show to midnight to maintain its hour-long late night newscasts.