Jimmy Kimmel is keeping “Live In Front of a Studio Audience” on a permanent pause. The series of specials, which earned raves and multiple Emmy Awards via three installments in May 2019, December 2019 and December 2021, haven’t been back since the death of icon Norman Lear in 2023. And for Kimmel, it’s probably best to keep it that way.
Kimmel was backstage at the Creative Arts Emmys on Sunday, having just won the award for game show host (via “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”) when he was asked whether he would want to do another “Live in Front of a Studio Audience.”
“It would be too emotional to do it without Norman. Lear, you know, I don’t know if my heart could take it,” he said.
Part of the draw of “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” was taking Lear’s 1970s-era sitcoms, known for mixing comedy with an honest look at the issues that people face, and noticing more than 40 years later, the subjects are still relevant. Watching modern casts perform the timeless scripts from Lear’s series was a reminder that while the world may change, the good and bad of humanity doesn’t.
The first special recreated the “All in the Family” episode “Henry’s Farewell” and “The Jeffersons” premiere “A Friend in Need.” The second special featured another “All in the Family” episode and an episode of “Good Times.” The third special combined “The Facts of Life” Season 3 episode “Kids Can Be Cruel” with the “Diff’rent Strokes” Season 1 episode “Willis’ Privacy”
This repped Kimmel’s first Primetime Emmy for game show host — but at the Daytime Emmys, in 1999, he and Ben Stein won the outstanding game show host award for “Win Ben Stein’s Money.”
“It was very surprising,” Kimmel said of that win. “When we won that Emmy, we went on the air the same week ‘South Park’ went on the air, and Comedy Central was not a channel that many people watched. And we were up against these titans, the same shows we’re up against now, ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and ‘Jeopardy.’ We didn’t know anyone was watching the show. I think it was the first Emmy Comedy Central ever won. I specifically remember being at that ceremony and seeing Susan Lucci in the front row, and she had lost 15 years in a row. It was like the big story every year. So when we won, I said something to the effect of ‘it seems ridiculous that we would win this in our first year.’ And I handed the Emmy to her, and she later gave it back. She rejected it. At the airport the next day, the lady at the TSA goes, ‘Are you the guy who gave Susan Lucci the Emmy?!’
Meanwhile, in Sunday’s acceptance speech, Kimmel gave a shout-out to original “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” host Regis Philbin.
“Regis was the best at this,” he said. “I don’t think this show would still be on the air if Regis hadn’t hosted it to start with. And he was such an unusual pick at the time. I don’t think people remember that, because it became such a big sensation, not just a hit, but like a cultural phenomenon. I don’t think people thought about the fact that Regis was a very unlikely choice as host for this show that became this big deal. Regis was very nice to me and I liked a lot. It is exciting to to have this and to know that he has this same Emmy somewhere in his family’s collection as well.”
Asked about whether he had thoughts on retiring or leaving his late night talk show. Kimmel joked, “I’m not prepared to answer their question, but it is something I think about a lot, and things have changed a lot over the last what nine years.” He went on to say, “Each day is a new adventure, and I take them as they come. Is that a good way of dodging the question?”
Kimmel was also asked about what it was like being at the forefront of defending democracy along with shows like “Saturday Night Live” and “South Park.” Said Kimmel: “Those are heavy thoughts, and I have a tendency to reject them. I don’t necessarily feel like I’m defending democracy, but I do feel like I’m giving this guy a little poke, and he deserves it, and I enjoy it.”
