HOLLYWOOD, California — On Sunday, the Oscars’ red carpet extends to Jimmy Kimmel’s front door.
For the 10th year in a row, the late night talk show host welcomes viewers to Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Oscars (airing tonight at about 12:05 a.m., on ABC and The Comedy Network).
Kimmel’s studio, part of the historic El Capitan Theatre complex, is just steps away from the home of the Oscars: the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.
The proximity is great for wrangling big-name guests to the after-party. This year, John Travolta, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Emily Blunt, Mila Kunis, Jeff Bridges and Oscar host Neil Patrick Harris will be among the A-listers crossing the street to Kimmel’s place. In past years, Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Samuel L. Jackson have all partied with the talk-show host.
While the carpet connection makes it an easy commute for guests, all other traffic at Hollywood and Highland is blocked. “We’re in lockdown in this neighbourhood,” Kimmel said. “We bring our audience in at noon and they have to be here the whole day.”
The good news for studio audience members is they get to watch the Oscars on giant screens in the studio. Then in walk the stars for an hour of live TV hijinks.
Interviewed last month in his cluttered office (which includes two Rob Ford figurines), Kimmel was plotting tonight’s post-Oscar sketches.
Many become viral video sensations, such as the Book Club Fight Club sketch Winfrey taped a few seasons ago. “I found her to be an unbelievably good sport,” Kimmel said. “We didn’t want to offend or overwork her, but once she saw what we were doing, she carried us the entire day.”
Ten years ago, Kimmel said, he had to talk ABC into letting him fill the post-Oscar time slot.
“It was empty real estate when we started,” he said. “It has become a big ratings thing [that] they’ll probably do years after I’m gone.”
At 47, Kimmel is now, along with Conan O’Brien, one of the veterans in the late-night field. Jay Leno has long gone, David Letterman — Kimmel’s hero — is leaving in May. Even Daily Show host Jon Stewart is stepping down.
“It’s a strange position to be in,” he said, “because you think of yourself as the new guy, and then you blink and I’ve been doing this for 12 years now. If you had told me during the first six months of our show that you’re going to be doing this for 12 years, I would have quit immediately.”
Kimmel can’t quit now, he said, “because all my friends work here.”
Cousin Sal Iacono, a writer and a bit player, is one of several relatives on the payroll. Childhood friend and neighbour Cleto Escobedo is his bandleader. His co-head writer, Molly McNearney, became his wife in 2013. While Kimmel has two grown children from a previous marriage, the couple welcomed their first child last July.
While Kimmel has hosted the Emmys and the American Music Awards in the past, he has never hosted the Oscars.
“Nobody’s asked me,” said Kimmel, who once showed up in his PJs to host a 5:30 a.m. Oscar nominations press conference.
If the Academy is interested, he’d like a shot at the gig. “Everyone gets beat up after they host it,” he said, “but I wouldn’t mind.”
Bill Brioux is a freelance TV columnist based in Ontario.
