After jumping around the country working
short stints for various
radio stations, Jimmy Kimmel found his way onto the
infamous Los Angeles radio station
KROQ in 1994. As "
Jimmy the Sports Guy," Kimmel became an integral part of the "
Kevin & Bean Morning Show." While working for KROQ, Kimmel met and became close friends with another KROQ employee,
Loveline host
Adam Carolla.
Through the exposure he got in the LA radio market, Kimmel landed a job as the host of Comedy Central’s "Win Ben Stein’s Money," serving as the average Joe to complement Stein’s massive intellect. The game show was a huge success, and Jimmy won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game-Show Host in 1999.
After three seasons, Jimmy left "Win Ben Stein’s Money" to host the wildly popular "The Man Show," also on Comedy Central. This show brought Kimmel together with friend Adam Carolla, and quickly became one of the most successful shows in the history of the cable network. The epitome of chauvinism, the show consists of the hosts drinking beer and telling fart jokes amongst a studio full of scantily clad women affectionately called “Juggies.” The show could be described as a televised version of the popular Maxim magazine. Each show ends with footage of well-endowed women jumping on a trampoline.
Thanks to the success of these two shows, Kimmel and several friends created another Comedy Central program called "Crank Yankers," which debuted in 2002. This show features Muppet-style puppets acting out (supposedly) real prank phone calls made by Kimmel, Carolla, SNL star Tracy Morgan, Super Dave Osborne and others.
Kimmel has also been seen on the "Fox NFL Sunday" pre-game show, cracking jokes and making predictions on that day’s football games. He has also landed small roles in the Hollywood films Down to You and Road Trip.
In January 2003, Kimmel threw his hat into the late-night talk show ring with "Jimmy Kimmel Live," airing on ABC. The show is broadcast live (using a profanity delay), as opposed to being taped earlier in the evening. The show uses the traditional guest-guest-band format, but also features a weekly-changing guest co-host. Similar to "The Man Show," Jimmy’s talk show was supposed to serve alcohol to the studio audience. When an audience member vomited during the show’s debut, ABC quickly pulled the plug on this idea.
http://www.hollywood.com/celebs/bio/celeb/1671809
http://kimmel.savagepenguin.com/
http://www.comedycentral.com/tv_shows/themanshow/jimmy.jhtml