Jimmy Kimmel Hints At Major Career Move, May Be Quitting TV For Good

The established lineup of late-night television hosts hasn’t had a new host in a number of years, but that could soon change.

See who has disclosed their intentions to perhaps discontinue their late-night show by reading on.

Jimmy Kimmel recently talked about his long career as host of Jimmy Kimmel Live and his forthcoming role as host of the Oscars in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

The 56-year-old comic, who is presently hosting the 21st season of his own late-night show, has hosted almost everything that Hollywood has to offer.

In January 2003, Jimmy Kimmel Live made its premiere. Kimmel was a newbie at the time, but he has since established himself as a late-night mainstay. He has been hosting late-night chat shows for the longest time.

However, Kimmel said that he has been considering his future after 21 years.

He claimed that he didn’t understand how much he missed it until he was unemployed on an episode of “Strike Force Five,” the podcast he co-hosted with other late-night program hosts during the writers’ strike.

“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.”

Kimmel, what about the future?

“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.”