Jimmy kimmel Live was brodcast from a laptop

GlenRice · Jun 22, 2010

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2...problem-jimmy-kimmel-live-relies-on-a-webcam/

No Power? No Problem: ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ Relies on a Webcam
By DAVE ITZKOFF

Most television hosts will do whatever it takes to keep their programs on the air, but when a power failure struck Jimmy Kimmel’s show on Monday evening, he really went the extra mile: he grabbed a laptop computer and shot the entire episode on a Webcam, becoming director, cameraman and lighting designer for the night.

“I suppose, if I’d thought it out better, I could have taken a video camera and done the same thing,” Mr. Kimmel said Tuesday in a telephone interview.

That episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” which ABC was to show on Monday, will instead be shown on Tuesday. And it will still feature segments with Seth Rogen (who was on hand to introduce his new movie, “The Green Hornet”) and the comedian John Henson, as well as a performance by the country musician Dierks Bentley — only slightly more pixelated than home viewers are used to seeing.

Mr. Kimmel, whose late-night talk show is produced at El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, said Monday’s power problems became apparent just before taping was to start at 7 p.m. Pacific time. Following a failure earlier in the day, the show’s control room automatically switched to a backup battery that was soon depleted.

“We were left with no power in the control room,” Mr. Kimmel said. “We had lights, no camera or audio.”

For fun, Mr. Kimmel picked up an Apple MacBook, opened the Photo Booth program, and began walking through his offices and interviewing his staffers on its Webcam. “I was like, maybe we can do this if we’re not able to get on the air,” he said.

That became Mr. Kimmel’s only option, as power was not restored to the control room until about 8:40 p.m. — too close to the show’s 9 o’clock live air time, by which point the decision had been made to broadcast a “Jimmy Kimmel Live” rerun on Monday.

But Mr. Kimmel’s guests and audience were all game to remain at the theater and shoot the Webcam episode for Tuesday. (Mr. Henson even shot his segment a second time, from his dressing room, when his original deskside interview with Mr. Kimmel was accidentally recorded without audio.)

Asked about the original power failure that made this unusual episode possible, Mr. Kimmel said it was the fault of “something very, very technical.” He added: “I blame BP for this. I’m sure they’re responsible somehow.”

Mr. Kimmel — who picks up no additional paychecks for the extra work he did on Monday — said the episode was not a stealth promotion for Apple, either.

“It is not a promotion of any kind,” he said. “In fact, I’m hoping they’re not upset with it.”

Watch a scene from Tuesday’s Webcam episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live”":
Click to expand...

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