KEY POINT
Jimmy Kimmel returned to his late-night program on Sept. 8 after more than two months away for his annual summer break.
His comeback coincided with a report claiming the current season could be the show’s final one, although ABC rejected that report as inaccurate.
Kimmel used his 4,000th episode to reflect on the program’s long run while directing fresh criticism at President Donald Trump.
Jimmy Kimmel returned to television Tuesday night with a monologue that mixed anniversary reflections with pointed jokes about President Donald Trump.
The Sept. 8 broadcast marked Kimmel’s return after an extended summer break of more than two months. His comeback also arrived on the same day that Page Six reported that the current season of his show could be its last, immediately putting renewed attention on the future of the long-running ABC program.
ABC pushed back against that report, describing it as inaccurate and saying that claims about the show’s future were speculative at this stage.
Kimmel did not directly address the report during his opening monologue. Instead, he focused on another milestone: the program’s 4,000th episode.
A 4,000-Episode Milestone
The anniversary gave Kimmel an opportunity to look back at how long his late-night program has remained on television.
WALTON GOGGINS, JIMMY KIMMEL
The show first premiered after the Super Bowl in January 2003. Kimmel pointed to the length of its run while joking about past efforts involving federal communications regulators that he said were intended to prevent the program from continuing.
His remarks referenced Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Carr became part of the controversy surrounding Kimmel in 2025 after pushing ABC to take action over comments Kimmel made following the killing of Charlie Kirk. The dispute resulted in Kimmel’s temporary suspension.
The latest monologue therefore came with a layer of history beyond the usual late-night political humor, as Kimmel presented the show’s continued existence as something he had fought to maintain.
Kimmel Turns His Attention to Trump
After joking that America’s problems had supposedly been solved while he was away, Kimmel quickly shifted his attention toward Trump.
He compared his own summer break with the president’s activities, saying they had both accomplished nothing during the period. Kimmel then criticized Trump’s recent social-media activity, describing the president as “crazier than ever” and referring to material he characterized as AI-generated content.
The comedian also joked that Trump’s online activity almost appeared to be a welcome-back message timed to his return.
Trump has frequently been a target of Kimmel’s late-night political commentary, making the president a natural focus of the comedian’s first monologue after the extended break.
The timing of the Page Six report made Kimmel’s return particularly notable. A report questioning the show’s future appeared hours before his comeback, while ABC publicly disputed the claim.
Because Kimmel did not discuss the report on air, the broadcast offered no confirmation that the program is ending. For now, the only confirmed development from ABC is that reports about the show’s future remain speculative.
Kimmel’s return combines three separate developments: his first show after the summer hiatus, the milestone of reaching 4,000 episodes and renewed uncertainty surrounding the program’s future.
The episode also highlighted the continuing intersection between late-night television and American political debate, with Kimmel using his return to revive his familiar criticism of Trump rather than centering the broadcast on the report about the show’s possible conclusion.
ABC has not confirmed that the current season will be the show’s final season. The network’s statement instead characterized such reports as inaccurate and speculative, leaving the program’s future unresolved based on the information currently available.
