BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Jimmy Kimmel is among Donald Trump’s late-night gadflies, while producer Mark Burnett showcased the future president on “The Apprentice.” Yet they are going into business together.
Kimmel and Burnett will produce a new ABC game show, “Generation Gap,” described by the network as a comedy quiz show that brings family members together to compete as a team.
Asked about the apparent odd-couple pairing with Burnett at a TV critics meeting Monday, Kimmel downplayed his role in Trump’s election. Observers have suggested that Burnett’s “The Apprentice” helped shape public perception of Trump as a leader.
“There’s no way Mark Burnett has the vision that he imagined that this monster would one day become president,” Kimmel said, echoing the harsh rhetoric he applies to Trump on ABC’s “Live with Jimmy Kimmel!” If Burnett is that prescient, he added, “we should be paying more attention to everything he does.”
The comedian said that, seriously or not, he’ll be taking jabs at Burnett.
“If you’re asking will I remind him 15 times a day that Donald Trump is president because of him, yes, I will remind him 15 times a day,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel, who recently signed a new three-year deal for his late-night gig, was asked if he would ever consider running for office. He didn’t even have the patience to coach his son’s basketball team, he said, when parents would pester him to give their kids more playing time.
“My response always was, ’You want to coach this team?’ And I feel like that’s what I would be doing that the whole time” as a politician, he said.
There are more projects ahead for Kimmel as a producer, including an extension of his successful live remakes of the classic Norman Lear sitcoms “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons.” Kimmel will re-team with Lear, Will Ferrell, Justin Theroux and Brent Miller to produce two more “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” specials, one described as a holiday event and the other set for spring 2020.
Further details have yet to be announced.
ABC also announced that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will return to Brooklyn, New York, for five shows starting Oct. 21.
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