Jimmy Kimmel began his nighttime talk show in a very unusual way on Monday, October 2, 2017. At the top of "Jimmy Kimmel Live," viewers heard a taped message from the late Mr. Rogers where he talked to kids encouraging them to be kind to one another. Following Mr. Rogers' plea, host Kimmel gave a tearful plea of his own about stricter Gun Control laws. Kimmel is a native of Las Vegas, and his speech was heartfelt.
The New York Times called the monologue the most emotional one in the show's 14-year history. It was just a few weeks ago that Kimmel was pleading for action concerning health care after his son was born with a medical issue. Now, another incident hit home for Kimmel.
Emotional monologue
Jimmy's monologue contained no jokes and nothing to make people laugh. His voice cracked, and he choked up. It was no doubt that it was painful for him to talk about the deadly shooting from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel on the Las Vegas strip. A lone gunman shot into the large crowd at the outdoor music festival while Jason Aldean was performing his last song of the concert.
When the shooting was over, 59 people had been killed, and at least 527 others were injured.
Kimmel tried his best to hold back tears, but he managed to get through his speech after another painful tragedy that affects him. The 49-year-old host took the opposite view from the one Sarah Huckabee Sanders gave when she said now is not the time to debate gun control. Kimmel said at times like this; people say they are praying for the victims' families. He contends that innocent people are dead because enough things have not been done about gun control prior to this tragedy.
Getting back to comedy
Kimmel made a very important point when he said he wants to get back to hosting his comedy show and make people laugh, but it is becoming more challenging when he has to continue talking about tragedies of this nature.
Kimmel concluded by saying something needs to be done so that senseless shootings do not happen over and over again. He advised his studio audience and ABC viewers to do something other than sending love and prayers. He suggested they contact those in Congress and make their voices heard about the gun control laws.
Kimmel seems to be more upbeat when he interviewed "Blackish" star Anthony Anderson and retired baseball star Alex Rodriquez. That's because the interviews were taped before he delivered his monologue.