Why Jimmy Kimmel used to ‘pray’ ABC would cancel his late-night talk show

Jimmy Kimmel used to “pray” for a time when ABC would cancel his eponymous late-night talk show.

“I didn’t know what I was doing, and I would pray that they canceled the show sometimes,” the comedian confessed to Ted Danson during Wednesday’s episode of the “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” podcast, while reminiscing over the earlier days of his career.

“I didn’t want to quit because I didn’t want to disappoint all the many people who worked for me, but I couldn’t. I was just — I couldn’t do it anymore.”

Kimmel — whose show was briefly suspended last month due to controversial comments he made following the death of Charlie Kirk — went on to share some of the specific challenges he faced when he first began hosting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in 2003.

“It was just, like, we didn’t have guests many times. We’d go on the air live at midnight, at 12:05,” he recalled.

“There were times it was 5:30 in the afternoon and we didn’t have guests for that night’s show, and I would have to just pick up the phone and call my friends.”

Kimmel remembered feeling frustrated with the situation, saying, “That’s not how you go into a show. You can’t operate that way.”

The talk show host relied on longtime friends, like then-girlfriend Sarah Silverman, to help him out.

“I asked her to come on a lot and I love her,” he shared, adding that he also repeatedly tapped pals Adam Carolla, David Alan Grier, Anthony Anderson and Kathy Griffin for appearances.

“God bless them, because I needed them,” he gushed. “And they were always ready at a moment’s notice to come on.”

Eventually, the show finally found its footing.

“It stabilized and we figured out how to do it,” Kimmel, 57, said, recalling how he began implementing “running bits” and other elements to help “keep [him] afloat.”

Kimmel’s latest remarks come just weeks after the network suspended his late-night show over his “ill-timed” Kirk comments.

“‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ will be pre-empted indefinitely,” a spokesperson told Page Six at the time.

The move came after TV station conglomerate Nextar threatened to pre-empt the program, noting in a statement that the company “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”

Kimmel being taken off the air polarized the public, with hundreds of celebrities — including Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, and more — condemning the decision in a letter, calling it a threat to free speech.

The comedian returned to his show on Sept. 23 after having “thoughtful conversations” with ABC.

“It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive,” the Walt Disney Company said in a statement. “We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”