June 10, 200422 yr C/O The Detroit News ABC pulls Kimmel's show Comedian's lame fire joke draws ire of Channel 7, fans. By Joanne C. Gerstner / The Detroit News AUBURN HILLS -- It all started with ABC late-night talk show host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel making a not-so-funny joke about Detroit on Tuesday's Game 2 halftime show of the NBA Finals. One wonders if Kimmel is laughing now, since his show was temporarily pulled off the air across the nation on Wednesday evening. Kimmel's show did not air, because of yet more disparaging remarks about Detroit in Wednesday's show. ABC refused to air the episode. ABC's local affiliate, WXYZ (Ch. 7) issued a statement early today, confirming that Kimmel's national benching was because of his continued trash talk about Detroit. The network instructed affiliates to offer alternate programming of their choosing. WXYZ replaced Kimmel with an episode of "The Wayne Brady Show". The lifting of Kimmel's show capped off a day that saw Metro Detroiters and Pistons fans light up abc.com's Internet board, the network's Los Angeles offices, and local talk-radio shows with anger at Kimmel and his remark. So what did Kimmel say to ignite this chain reaction? ?They're going to burn the city of Detroit down if the Pistons win,? Kimmel said during halftime of Game 2, using his customary snarky tone. ABC broadcaster and Ann Arbor resident Mike Tirico objected immediately, saying, ?Hey, hey, hey, be careful. That's my home state.? Kimmel looked a bit stunned at Tirico's objections, then backtracked a bit by saying analyst Tom Tolbert's eye-popping plaid suit should instead be burned. Grace Gilchrist, WXYZ's general manager and vice president, just happened to be in Los Angeles on Wednesday for an affiliates meeting. Andrea Parquet-Taylor, Channel 7's news director, said Gilchrist personally expressed her outrage at Kimmel's comments to ABC's brass. Parquet-Taylor hinted that Kimmel was in for some punitive action. Gilchrist later learned about Kimmel's new remarks against Detroit, prompting her to again protest to ABC late Wednesday evening. ?We are pretty livid about the entire situation,? Parquet-Taylor said. ?Grace gave them an earful. We think that there is a lot of discussion about how Jimmy Kimmel has jeopardized his right to have clearance in this community. Totally out of line. We have got probably one of the strongest audience bases in the country for him. ?An apology is not going to cut it at all. We're not going to accept that from him. He owes this community much more.? Kimmel issued a written statement Wednesday afternoon to address the furor. ?What I said about Pistons fans during halftime last night was a joke, nothing more,? Kimmel wrote. ?If it offended anyone, I am sorry. ?Clearly, over the past 10 years, we in L.A. have taken a commanding lead in postgame riots. If the Lakers win, I plan to overturn my own car.? Kimmel then did his show, which is taped in the evening, and apparently decided to rip on Detroit all over again. WDFN 1130 mid-morning host Sean Baligian fielded an hour of calls Wednesday, fueled by people outraged at Kimmel. ?It was unreal. Man, did that statement ever touch a nerve,? Baligian said. ?People are mad. They're offended. I have never received such a quick reaction.? Callers to Baligian's show were mad that Kimmel slammed Detroit without cause. ?Caller after caller, and people who were e-mailing me, were mad because what Kimmel said is simply untrue,? Baligian said. ?It's not true. Detroit does not burn when teams win. It's a lie, and people are mad that somebody would say something so terrible about Detroit on national TV. ?Jimmy Kimmel is a funny cat, he doesn't need to go somewhere as lame as making a lie up about Detroit. And he wasn't even funny on top of it.? Big business Kimmel's not-too-bright statements went out to a big audience, as Game 2 proved to be another ratings blockbuster for ABC. It was the No. 1 show on Tuesday, drawing a 12.3 rating and a 30 share. That rating is 68 percent higher than last year's Game 2 between the Nets and Spurs. Detroit also did well in the ratings, with 37.6 rating and a 53 share -- meaning that 53 percent of all the TV sets turned on were watching the Pistons. Los Angelenos might have lost a few people to chilling on the beach, posting a lower 29.7 rating and a 44 share. The most ironic thing is that there is some truth to the snipe about Detroilet burning if the Pistons won.
June 10, 200422 yr WXYZ replaced Kimmel with an episode of "The Wayne Brady Show". :lol now THAT deserves a PWNED
June 10, 200422 yr WXYZ replaced Kimmel with an episode of "The Wayne Brady Show". :lol now THAT deserves a PWNED:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol AMEN.
June 10, 200422 yr Kimmel didn't air in Atlanta because WSB-TV decided they would rather air Entertainment Tonight. WFTV-TV in Orlando airs infomercials. Kimmel was going down anyway, so why not in flames by dissing ABC's biggest affiliate company Scripps-Howard which also owns affiliates in Tampa, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Phoenix as well as Detroit.
June 10, 200422 yr Kimmel didn't air in Atlanta because WSB-TV decided they would rather air Entertainment Tonight. WFTV-TV in Orlando airs infomercials. Kimmel was going down anyway, so why not in flames by dissing ABC's biggest affiliate company Scripps-Howard which also owns affiliates in Tampa, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Phoenix as well as Detroit. i always wondered, why doesnt ABC channel 9 in orlando show kimmels show? they havnt showed it since it started.
June 10, 200422 yr Kimmel didn't air in Atlanta because WSB-TV decided they would rather air Entertainment Tonight. WFTV-TV in Orlando airs infomercials. Kimmel was going down anyway, so why not in flames by dissing ABC's biggest affiliate company Scripps-Howard which also owns affiliates in Tampa, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Phoenix as well as Detroit. i always wondered, why doesnt ABC channel 9 in orlando show kimmels show? they havnt showed it since it started. Cox Broadcasting pulled Kimmel off their ABC affiliates because his one hour slot is not available. That is why WFTV and WSB do not air it officially. Many have said that the ABC affils in that group didn't feel comfortable with him on when they could air something that the areas they serve would like better. They thought he wouldn't rate well.
June 10, 200422 yr In my area they show Elimidate in his slot. I'm sure that gets huge ratings. no doubt
June 10, 200422 yr Kimmel didn't air in Atlanta because WSB-TV decided they would rather air Entertainment Tonight. WFTV-TV in Orlando airs infomercials. Kimmel was going down anyway, so why not in flames by dissing ABC's biggest affiliate company Scripps-Howard which also owns affiliates in Tampa, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Phoenix as well as Detroit. I was wondering why I had never seen his show, lol.
June 11, 200422 yr DC originally didn't have it but I guess sometime during the past few months when I was at college they put it on. Ok show no where near Letterman
June 11, 200422 yr I don't dig Kimme's show at all. Interesting ideas, interesting concepts, but I generally just don't dig it at all. Except when Tyson was a guest host.
June 11, 200422 yr I'm glad the Sports Guy left it to come back to ESPN.com. His columns are awesome.
June 11, 200422 yr The Jimmy Kimmel show is great, I am watching right now and Chris Webber is a guest who happens to be from Detroit. So he said that his friends told him not to go because of what Jimmy said, so in order to make it better he has Jimmy wearing an Isiah Thomas Pistons jersey and a Detroit Tigers hat. As I am typing this hes doing this game and said Detroit and then he said that it is a wonderful city.
June 11, 200422 yr Jimmy Kimmel ranks at the bottom of the talk shows IMO. He was marginally better on The Man Show. His show is just awful. I'm only sorry he didn't say worse things about Detroit, so that maybe they would've overreacted even more and cancelled it permanently.
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