Jimmy Kimmel's talk show now 20 years old! Host reminisces his first day at work

The chances that `Jimmy Kimmel Live` would still be on the air 20 years later, on January 26, 2003, were astronomically low. According to Variety, a US-based media house, the network hadn`t aired a traditional late-night talk show since 1991`s `Into the Night With Rick Dees` (hosted, coincidentally, by another Los Angeles radio veteran), and the previous occupant, `Politically Incorrect,` had been cancelled due to declining ratings -- and controversy over 9/11-related comments host Bill Maher had made.

Among those hosts -- Leno, Letterman, O`Brien, and Kilborn -- Kimmel is the only one left standing in late night, and he has more than earned his keep over the years, becoming the genre`s longest-tenured host. Over the course of two decades, the `Kimmel` team has produced more than 3,500 monologues, 10,000 stars, and five presidents.

According to Variety, on the occasion, a primetime `Jimmy Kimmel Live` anniversary special will relive some of the show`s history by reuniting the original guests from the very first night, including George Clooney, Snoop Dogg, and Coldplay. The inaugural `Jimmy Kimmel Live` aired live (as it did for the next few years) on a Sunday night after ABC`s broadcast of the Super Bowl.

Recently, Variety caught up with Jimmy Kimmel and asked his thoughts on how he felt about his show completing 20 years.

Kimmel told Variety, "I`m feeling as everybody might imagine, it feels like it went by in the blink of an eye, and it also feels like it`s been going on since the Middle Ages. But it definitely gives me a sense of accomplishment. And I think all of us that feeling that way. Especially when you go back and watch some of the old shows and you`re like, "Wow, this is very unprofessional!" Those nights where we thought that was a pretty good show, we were extremely wrong!"

Variety also asked the host about his experience on the first night and he said, "I was totally unprepared for the show itself. I had almost no jokes written. I had a terrible cough and was very sick that night. I couldn`t stop coughing moments before the show started. And the stage manager didn`t want to give me USD 2 to buy some cough drops at the little souvenir shop next door. Luckily, a woman who was doing my hair gave me gave me USD 2, I ran in grabbed the roll of cough drops. I chomped all of them on my way into the studio and was able to keep it together without coughing for the monologue. But I remember while I was doing the show still being so mad at the stage manager."