Molly McNearney and Jimmy Kimmel are on a two-month summer vacation. That doesn’t mean they don’t pay attention to the news. But they don’t have to write jokes about it.
Two decades in, Jimmy Kimmel is the longest-running late-night host on television. He married “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” executive producer and showrunner McNearney in 2013; they have two young kids, seven and 10. That’s one reason Kimmel, who keeps threatening to quit the daily grind when his contract with ABC expires in two years, insists on time off.
He recently announced he wasn’t r e t u r n i n g t o the Oscars for a fifth go-round as host. That doesn’t mean he’s never coming back. But with the presidential election coming — the duo will be back on full-time duty on Labor Day — he’s going to be firing on all cylinders.
“It’s important to have a little recharge and actually get to make eye contact with the kids for a few weeks,” said McNearney on Zoom (watch the video of our interview above). “Particularly going into an election year, it’s going to be wild. I’m still reading the news every day but not reacting to it, just suppressing it.
It’s a muscle you are constantly exercising, but it never goes away. All late night writers ingest the news the same way. It’s never just for pleasure anymore.
It’s just in my head. it’s definitely hard to not be on air during these times, but we’ll have plenty to work with in September. I look forward to coming back and being able.