This oughta be worth the price of admission: Ben Affleck is making his first visit to ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Friday since he and the host went public with their forbidden love a year ago with the memorable "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck" video.

Affleck is tubthumping his new pic "State of Play."

From the ABC press release:

"Watch as the happy couple travels down memory lane reminiscing about when they made their special music video and first fell in love. Affleck endearingly describes how everyone from 70-year old women to the local delivery men still hound him about his late-night lover. Find out what the 'secret word' they share is and what the 'Damon Clause' is in their relationship."

Here's something we didn't expect to see at the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" 1000th episode party on Thursday night: Dominic Monaghan. The dearly departed "Lost" star was making the rounds poolside at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel and hanging with "it" couple Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman.

Monaghan must've had a good time making the Jimmy Kimmel-Ben Affleck music vid a few months back (he's in the sing-along celeb gospel choir). He's also guested on "Kimmel" five times since the dawn of "Lost" in the fall of 2004.

Monaghan, looking very neat and clean (we still can't get used to that) in a crisp open-collar dress shirt and gray suit, didn't stay in one spot for too long, but we stopped him long enough to share a heartfelt "awwww" over Charlie's heroic sacrifice. Thesp said he's "trying to do something with Sarah for her show" (presumably the Comedy Central skein that resumes production in the next few weeks) and he does read the scripts that "Touchstone" (guess he didn't get the memo on the name change to ABC Studios) is sending him but is more focused on film than TV these days.

Monaghan reported that he's just wrapped production on the "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" pic and is soon off "to go find the world's biggest spider." Not entirely sure what that means. We do know that there's a shot of a spider in the "Happy Accidents" exhibition of photos that Monaghan recently had on display at West Hollywood art gallery Hamilton-Selway Fine Art.

By the dim light of the heat lamps at the party, Monaghan looked cheery and chipper, like he was enjoying himself. Heck, that's all we ever wanted for Charlie...isn't it?

One thousand episodes down and Jimmy Kimmel hasn't changed a bit. When asked about some of the guests he's yet to be able to book on his show during his five years (and counting) the first words out of his mouth were "I'd love to have Letterman."

When "Jimmy Kimmel Live" first went on the air, all of the obligatory media profiles of the new latenight entrant mentioned what he Letterman fanatic Kimmel was, and apparently still is. Others on Kimmel's guest wish-list are Bill Murray, Woody Allen and Steve Martin.

Kimmel seemed to be enjoying his 1K moment on Thursday night after taping an extralong 90-minute seg (complete with a comedy bit with latenight mainstay Richard Simmons) to herald his 1000th episode milestone. The afterparty was a low-key affair held poolside at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel, right next door to the show's studio at the El Capitan Theater. Small-ish crowd was mostly crew members, family and assorted friends (like Adam Carolla, Johnny Knoxville, Dominic Monaghan, Paul Reubens, Rebecca Romijn, Carson Daly, David Spade, Rachael Harris, Andy Milonakis and Dick Van Patten, who professes to being a regular view of "JKL").

Despite the old saw about television being such a confounding medium, Kimmel said his job has surely gotten easier with time.

"The audience is much more receptive, the jokes go down much easier" when you've been on the air for a while, Kimmel said.
No, he never fretted too much about getting canceled, even in his rocky first year. "I have ups and downs in my career," Kimmel observed.

Kimmel credited ABC Entertainment boss Stephen McPherson, who was on hand to slap a few backs at the party, with making his work life much easier during the past few years. "We wouldn't be on the air if it wasn't for Steve," Kimmel assured. "He gets our show."

Jimmy Kimmel's ABC late night skein may be temporarily idled by the writers strike, but picket lines can't stop the march of time. Kimmel toasted the onset of his forties with a birthday bash at Tao in Las Vegas on Nov. 9.

According to IMDB, the big 4-0 for Kimmel officially arrives on Tuesday (Nov. 13). Too bad he won't have a show to mark the occasion and show off pics like the one at left with his mom and dad, Joan and Jim Kimmel, and galpal Sarah Silverman apparently mistaking his cheek for a slice of cake (or maybe not?). According to an ABC rep, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" is taking it day by day but will fer sure be a repeat on Tuesday.

(Pic by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)