Kimmel 'n Bits: Times Scribe Needs to Get Out More

Much as I hate to completely agree with Deadlinehollywooddaily's Nikki Finke, she's absolutely right about Dave Itzkoff's New York Times piece, which sounded utterly shocked by the "withering, blistering monologue" that Jimmy Kimmel delivered at ABC's upfront presentation on Tuesday.

Itzkoff must be a complete neophyte to upfront blather, since comics have been getting up and poking fun at their own networks for years at these events. And while Kimmel joked about ABC's shows, I'd contend (as I did in an earlier post) that Kimmel's most pointed barb was aimed at NBC, who the latenight host accused of destroying its own network by virtue of its determination to prevent Jay Leno from leaping over to ABC.

Funny and very smart stuff, perfectly suited to an insider-savvy audience. As for Itzkoff pondering whether Kimmel is lucky to have a job, my guess is that he not only has one but will be doing it a half-hour earlier sooner or later, if ABC pulls the trigger on moving him to go directly opposite Conan O'Brien.

This is, in other words, a completely bogus non-story, receiving attention only because people like to assume that the New York Times knows what it's talking about. In this case, the paper didn't.

Let's hope they're doing a better job on how they cover Washington.