Jimmy Kimmel

From the opening monologues, cheerful interviews with A-list athletes and Hollywood stars to live music performances, Jimmy Kimmel Live! is the next late-night attraction on STAR World. While you can catch the funnyman, Monday to Thursday, at 11pm, beginning August 18, you have to watch the weekend special this Saturday at 11pm. To bring you up to speed on TV’s hippest talk show, here are Kimmel’s most memorable moments, weirdest guests and funniest clips...

1. Mad Matt (2006)

For two years, Kimmel made a tradition of closing many of his shows with the line, “Our apologies to Matt Damon, but we ran out of time,” suggesting that the actor had been bumped from the lineup that night. In Sept 2006, Damon did finally appear on the show. After a lengthy introduction from Kimmel, Damon sat down. But after only a few seconds, the host cut him off, apologised that they had run out of time and ended the show. Damon cut loose with a string of on-camera expletives and stormed off the set. His performance was so believable that many thought he was truly upset. The two later confirmed that it was just an act.

2. Saucy Sarah (2008)

To mark the show’s fifth anniversary, Kimmel’s then-girlfriend, comedian Sarah Silverman, appeared as a guest and introduced a music video she had made with Oscar winner Matt Damon. The expletive-strewn clip detailing Silverman’s alleged affair with the Good Will Hunting star quickly became an instant YouTube sensation.

3. That was Ben, This is Now

After the Silverman-Damon duet, Kimmel plotted his revenge. Aired during his post-Oscars special, Kimmel’s camp-tastic video announced his affair with Damon’s longtime pal, Ben Affleck. The parody not only featured Affleck but a string of Hollywood heavyweights, including Cameron Diaz, Harrison Ford, Josh Groban, Brad Pitt, Rebecca Romijn, Robin Williams and Macy Gray. The celeb-packed video became the talk of the town and led to a ratings spike for Jimmy Kimmel Live!

4. Eminem Meltdown

When Kimmel had the chance to interview rapper Eminem, he decided to use questions veteran newswoman Barbara Walters had asked celebrities over the years. He began by asking a question Walters had posed to Teri Hatcher: “In addition to being divorced, you said you were a failure with men. You beautiful creature, how could you say that..?” When a stunned Eminem sat speechless, Kimmel asked: “Do you need a tissue?”

5. Grey Day

While interviewing a reptile-loving zoologist, Jimmy appeared to have been bitten on the hand by a rattlesnake. With shocked audience members looking on and cameras capturing the chaos, the host was taken to a hospital emergency room. After the ad break, Jimmy was seen lying in his hospital bed where he introduced his guests for the night — the cast of the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.

6. Movies & Shakers

Guillermo Diaz started out as a parking-lot security guard on Jimmy Kimmel Live! but, thanks to his likable nature and comic timing, became a regular guest on the show. As part of Kimmel’s ongoing faux feud with Matt Damon, Guillermo replaced the actor in The Bourne Ultimatum and a clip of Damon learning he had been bumped from the film — and chasing down Guillermo — became a huge hit. Likewise, Guillermo inserted himself into The Incredible Hulk trailer and interacted with actor Edward Norton.

7. Keeping it Clean

Each week, Kimmel introduces ‘This Week in Unnecessary Censorship’. In this segment, Kimmel bleeps certain words and phrases from celebrities and politicians, making it appear as though they’re saying inappropriate things. “The best-case scenario is if [a word] starts with an F or ends with a hard K sound,” explains Jimmy.

8. Randy Andy

Andy Dick is the only guest to have been forcibly removed from the Jimmy Kimmel stage. Sharing the stage with Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, an inebriated Dick repeatedly touched the heiress’s legs and hair. Although Kimmel asked him to behave, Dick refused to stop. When Dick grabbed Trump’s arm and ordered her to give him “a big, fat, sloppy kiss right on the lips”, two security guards were called in and dragged him out.