Jimmy Kimmel maintains “live” with a permanent pause “in front of the studio audience.” The series of specials, which won Rave and multiple Emmy Awards through three installments in May 2019, December 2019 and December 2021, have not returned from the death of Icon Norman Leah in 2023.
Kimmel was just winning the award for hosting a game show on Sunday behind the scenes at Creative Arts Emmys (“Who wants to be a billionaire?”) and was asked if he “lives in front of another studio audience.”
“It’s too emotional to do that without Norman. Leah, I don’t know if my mind can take it,” he said.
Part of the appeal of “live in front of a studio audience” was to incorporate Leah’s 1970s Ella sitcom, known for his honest look at and mixing the issues people face, and after more than 40 years, subjects found themselves still relevant. Looking at the modern cast, playing a timeless script from Leah’s series reminded me that while it could change the world, the good and evil of humanity is not.
The first special recreated the “All Family” episodes “Henry’s Farewell” and the “Jeffersons” premiere “A Friend in Need.” The second special featured another “All Family” episode and an episode from “Good Times.” The third special “The Facts of Life” season 3 episodes “Kids Can Be Crul” and “Diff’rent Strokes” season 1 episode “Willis’ Privacy”
This represented Kimmel’s first Primetime Emmy for the host of a game show, but at the 1999 daytime Emmys, he and Ben Stein won the Outstanding Game Show Host Award for “Winn Ben Stein’s Money.”
“It was very surprising,” Kimmel said of the victory. “When we beat that Emmy, we had ‘South Park’ aired the same week and Comedy Central wasn’t the channel that many people saw. And we confronted these Titans. We all remember that we were at the ceremony. And I handed her an Emmy and she refused.
Meanwhile, in a acceptance speech on Sunday, Kimmel said, “Who wants to be a billionaire?” host Regis Philbin.
“Regis was the best in this,” he said. “I don’t think this show is still airing if Regis wasn’t hosting it first. And he was such a rare pick at the time. I don’t think people remember it, and to know that he has the same Emmy somewhere in his family’s collection.”
I asked him if he thought about retiring from late-night talk shows or leaving. Kimmel joked. “I’m not ready to answer their questions, but that’s something I often think about, and things have changed a lot over the last nine years,” he continues, “Every day is a new adventure, and I take them when they come. Is that a good way to dodge the questions?”
Kimmel was also asked about what’s like being on the forefront of defending democracy, along with shows like Saturday Night Live and South Park. Kimmel said: “They are heavy ideas and I tend to reject them. I don’t necessarily feel like I’m defending democracy, but I feel like I’m thrustling this guy a bit, and he deserves it, and I enjoy it.”
