Over the last few years, a lot of celebrities have been jumping on the podcast bandwagon. I listen to a lot of podcasts but the only celebrity-hosted ones I’ve listened to are the Duchess of Sussex’s Archetypes and Conan O’Brien’s delightful Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. Well, now there’s a new pod joining the fray. In lieu of the two Hollywood strikes, five of TV’s late-night television hosts – Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver – have joined forces to launch a brand new podcast on Spotify called Strike Force Five.
Strike Force Five will have a minimum of 12 episodes and all of its proceeds will go directly to the out-of-work staff on each host’s respective show. According to a post from NowThis News, the limited-series will “provide viewers with the hosts’ insights, opinions, and of course, their trademark humor as they navigate the intricacies of the Hollywood strikes.” On the first episode of Strike Force Five, Jimmy Kimmel shared that he almost retired from Jimmy Kimmel Live! before the WGA strike began in May.
In the first episode of the “Strike Force Five” podcast featuring Kimmel and his fellow late night hosts, he asked the panel whether they were “getting stir-crazy” and “ready to get back to work” – before revealing that he had considered hanging up his hat.
“I was very intent on retiring right around the time where the strike started, and now I realize like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s kinda nice to work,’” he said. “You know, when you are working, you think about not working.”
Seth Meyers cut in on Kimmel’s remarks to refer to him as the “Tom Brady of late night hosts” before asking whether people should take his word for it.
Kimmel replied that he was “very, very serious” about retirement.
“I enjoy getting summers off. I enjoy the fact that you don’t get them even more, makes them all the sweeter. … But I like getting the summer off better when I’m getting paid to get the summer off,” Kimmel said
I totally understand feeling burnt out and needing a change careerwise. I know that feeling firsthand. While it must be nice to be able to retire at 55, the sentiment behind it is relatable. I wonder if he’ll change his mind again and end up retiring within the next year or so anyway. Now this has me thinking about who would be an awesome choice to replace him. Hmm… Anyway, I’m curious to check out Strike Force Five, but only because I really want to hear from John Oliver and Stephen Colbert. If there was a podcast with just the two of them, I’d definitely subscribe to it.
Photos credit: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon, Getty and via Instagram
I hate that I’m going to have to get Spotify again to listen to this, but I also need the toothbrushing show for my kids, so I guess here we are….
I’ll definitely be listening.
White Force Five
Boop!
I would love to listen to this if Jimmy Kimmel wasnt on it, actually. I’m not a Seth neyers fan but he may surprise me. Kimmel… I’m just not a fan.
I would love to see Sean Hayes as a host of a show.
Sean is one of the hosts of Smartless with Jason Bateman and Will Arnett
And Just Jack and Will. And Hypochondriactor. There is no end of podcasts and games shows with Sean Hayes.
Nope. We’ll skip it with Kimmel.
I listened! Colbert and Oliver were the standouts, I will probably keep tuning in just for them. I’m a longtime fan of Oliver’s previous podcast, The Bugle, so I’m not at all surprised that he excels here. Both he and Colbert are also great interviewees, so it’s not surprising.
Meyers held his own, he did well playing off of the others with some sardonic comments. In my view, the two Jimmys took up way too much airtime, Kimmel with a “classic morning dj with a sound effect” bit that got old way fast, and Fallon trying to name-drop and just seeming way out of his league. But I’m definitely biased, I have never thought either of them were funny.
Agreed! Although Conan no longer has a show, he would be a great addition to this. Cut the two Jimmys and put him in.
Although I’m not crazy about Seth Meyers’ show, he has a great bit that’s not on TV —only YouTube. It’s called Corrections and it’s basically him getting into a back-and-forth with YouTube commenters who point out mistakes on his show. It’s hilarious. You have to start from the first one because there’s a lot of referring back to previous episodes. It’s filmed in the studio but there’s no audience except for his crew and hearing them laugh is one of the best parts. You get a real sense that it’s an affectionate and happy work environment for all involved.
Seth started it when Covid began and he no longer had an audience but needed to gauge what people were thinking about his show. Since then he says it has become the favorite part of the week.
I am a fellow jackal! I think Seth really found his tone in the pandemic, and the sort of loose, silly, just trying to make his crew laugh vibe doesn’t necessarily translate to this podcast format, at least not so far.
I never knew Jon Oliver had a podcast! Adding that to the list.
I mainly watch Conan’s podcast clips on YouTube. And I love Smartless! Sean Hayes is the best part.
As much as I love Colbert, Oliver, and Myers, I can’t stand Kimmel or Fallon. Kimmel got his start on radio (I remember listening to him in the AM on KROQ) so it makes sense he sounds like a classic morning DJ.
I’ll subscribe–just to generate ad revenue for the writers–but I probably won’t listen. Kimmel’s comments come across a little tone deaf–he clearly views working/not working as a lifestyle choice–and not funny. But, then again, that’s pretty on brand for him.
Just listened to the first episode and it’s interesting — they’re sponsored by the company that now owns George Clooney’s tequila brand. What’s the bet Clooney brokered the deal to support the shows’ workers given what we know about him being active behind the scenes of the strike? Once the strike is over, I bet he could run for mayor and get elected.
He should retire. I don’t find him engaging at all.
I used to adore Seth Myers. He’s an incredible writer.
But then he went all in on rehabbing John Mulaney’s image without a seeming second thought about Anna – his actual WIFE – and I was over it. Just another dude who supports dudes behaving terribly.
That gave me pause as well. He gets points for supporting his friend but he sat there awkwardly while JM trashed his estranged wife in that comeback interview, knowing she tried to save JM’s life by requesting the intervention. When JM dropped the bit about “we both went to rehab” and Seth didn’t push him to clarify, I was disgusted with both of them.