Time Is of the Essence: An Interview with ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Head Writers Molly McNearney and Danny Ricker

Having recently celebrated twenty years on the air, it’s safe to say, Jimmy Kimmel Live! is a mainstay for network TV, with a loyal and growing fanbase. Folks tune in not for only special guests, but for specific bits, segments and that opening monologue. And guess what? There’s a huge team behind the scenes working miracles to put each up episode up every single day – and it’s a lot of work, but oh so worth it.

At least that’s the sense I genuinely got from Molly McNearney and Danny Ricker, the head writers of Jimmy Kimmel Live! spared some time from their busy schedules to shed light on what a head writer does in late night TV, to what makes a great monologue, the importance of writing a good joke, to their favorite segments and bits, to what makes a great late night writing packet. Dive in and get ready to take some notes – these two are rich with invaluable advice for any writer at any stage in their writing career.

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Sadie Dean: What in the world does a head writer do on a late night show?

Molly McNearney: Well, our job is pretty much to be the last writer before something makes it to Jimmy basically. So, all of our writers do, like on other late night shows, our writers do joke writing and bit writing every morning. And all those pitches go to Jimmy who's essentially our head-head writer. [laughs] He whittles through all that material in the morning and sends back the bits and jokes he likes for the day. And then Danny and Gary [Greenberg], who is a supervising producer, and he was head writer as well, Danny, Gary and I go through that material once a writer has scripted something. So, they got a bit that's picked in the morning. They script it, they send it to us, we do a punch-up on it and then we send it to Jimmy who does the final punch-up on it.

Our job is really to kind of look at what's going on in the news that day. Danny works very closely with a writer named Nick in the morning to select the topics that will go into our monologue. So this guy Nick is up at four o'clock in the morning, scouring the internet for what people are going to be talking about because we do think our job is to find the things that are leading the news cycle, but things that people are talking about, and Jimmy can kind of have a conversation at the end of the day about what the heck everyone just absorbed throughout the day.

Then our job is really to kind of take a step back and look at a bigger picture of what does the show need? Do we need more comedy bits with guests? Do we need to do more live interaction with people on the boulevard? Kind of figuring out the rhythm of the show every week. We're very conscious of making sure that we're not being too redundant with our comedy. So, what I mean by that is, if we have a big live comedy bit on a Monday night, Tuesday, we might be more likely to do a pre-taped comedy bit. We're not going to do two boulevard bits back-to-back, for example.

And then our job is to make sure Jimmy is getting what he needs out of our team. So, if he says, 'Hey, I need more on this subject, I need less on this subject.' We're there to help with that. And I think that our job is also to help with not just the monologue, which is our number one priority, but the entire show. So, when you have guests that want to do a comedy bit, or they just need some help with their segment, we're here to support that team as well.

Danny Ricker: We have a rehearsal at 11:30 am every day and a big part of our job is just making sure there's raw materials there for Jimmy to pick for the monologue that day. So, like the last two weeks with Trump in court, we've had plenty of news clips that our clip researchers have pulled. And we could probably do our whole monologue just on that. But in case Jimmy feels like, 'Hey, you know what, it's too much on Trump right now,' hopefully, we have an evergreen bit we shot a couple of weeks ago that's prepared and ready to go. And so, we're just trying to kind of make the menu for him everyday and kind of let him order as he sees fit. So, I think that's a big thrust of our effort during the day, too.

Sadie: That's definitely a lot of moving parts. Because of that turnaround time, how much are you pre-taping bits just to have, like you said, in your arsenal just in case?

Molly: We like to have evergreen bits in our arsenal, things that can go at any time that are not tied to a news story. I think every writer’s goal is to come up with some kind of bit that can be repeatable and is not reliant on the news. We kind of think of those as like the trophies that everyone's aiming to get as a writer of the show.

We're live to tape. So, we shoot the show at 4:30. It's a pretty tight hour, Jimmy is really good - he's very aware, I think from his days in radio - he hits that clock perfectly every night. So, we do make an hour-long show. But most of that show is written day of, as I mentioned, have an arsenal of things we can always use. But it really is a team of 19 people at seven o'clock in the morning, writing material that they will produce, shoot, edit, and put on air at 4:30 that night. And it's an incredible turnaround and a massive team effort.

Danny: And I think honestly, that's our preference is to have a show that we write that day completely. It's much harder, obviously, on our staff and on production, and especially on Jimmy who is very, very involved in the writing. But I think it makes the show feel fresh. And like Molly said, he always wants it to feel like we're talking about what everyone's talking about. And so, we always want to really dig into what's going on that day. And if there's not much going on that day, then we'll fall back on that other stuff we have prepared.

Sadie: With all the other writers and your staff, what does that look like in terms of the writers’ room and those pitches?

Molly: It's a lot more isolated than you'd think. I think you imagine a bunch of people sitting around a table and throwing out ideas, which sounds dreamlike. But we don't have the luxury of that, because we're doing a show every night, we can't sit around a table for a couple hours in the morning because the clock is ticking. So, every writer writes on their own in the morning, they write their pitches, most of them from home in their pajamas around eight o'clock in the morning. And they will write a couple of pages based on mostly the topics of the night that we have outlined for them. We always love it when a writer finds a topic outside of the day's news, something that we hadn't thought about, more observational comedy.

Then we have a team of four people who are called clip researchers who spend their morning watching TV, which sounds a lot more fun than it actually is. They're watching and pulling a bunch of clips for us. Jimmy selects the clips he likes. And then we all sit and write clip jokes to those things that he picks. And then we will get together as a group when someone needs a little help. I think we get together when it's something that is not as pressing for time. So, if we've got a pitch for, say, Ryan Gosling, and he wants to do a live stunt, we can get the group together and say, 'All right, here's the idea. How can we make this stronger together as team?' And we love to do that. We wish we could do it more. But when you have to have a show on at 4:30 ready to go? Time is of the essence.

Danny: Yeah, and when we have something like the Oscars - we know months ahead of time we're going to be doing that, then we actually do get to spend a lot of time in the room together with Jimmy and each other. And we all really enjoy that. Weirdly, something that stressful feels like a luxury to us, because we can actually enjoy each other's company a little more. But then, throughout the day, we are all on the same floor of our office building.

And so, while there's not a lot of us just spitballing together, I think there is an alchemy of us being together. And you're in the kitchen grabbing your lunch, and someone's talking about their bit, you do kind of throw in on it. That's what we really missed during COVID I think because we were obviously completely separated. And I realized, I think within a month I went, 'Oh, the part of work I like the best is that,' the little conversation by the coffeemaker where maybe someone's making fun of your shirt or, 'Hey, how's that bit going?' And you kind of help out. That to me is the best part of being a comedy writer. And I think second is the actual craft of it. But the first part is actually getting to hang out with comedy writers.

Sadie: I'd love to talk about joke writing process and the power of jokes in general. What I really appreciate is that you guys are punching up and not punching down. What’s that process like, especially with framing the monologue and getting your point across?

Danny: You need to do a lot of raw churning to get the stuff that's going to work. We calculated it this year, but I think for the Oscars, which obviously is different than the nightly show, but I think for the Oscars, we wrote 5,000 jokes that I think ended up probably being like 30 on air, maybe, probably even less than that. But it takes that much thought to really distill what you want to say, and the points you want to make, and the way in which you want to make them.

I think with our Oscars monologue, we could have done an equally good monologue with completely different jokes, but when we had that big batch, there's a lot of thought and discussion that goes into, 'OK, who do we want to mention? Who do we want to highlight? Who do we maybe not want to?' And there's so much more thought that goes into it than just going, like, ‘Let's read the 30 funniest jokes.’ That wouldn't have a flow to it and not hang together as one piece of writing. So, a lot of thought goes into it.

I also think just on a really granular level, since this is an interview about writing, I'll just say too, the way I always try to approach a joke is like, I think the best one says something that you want to say in the funniest way possible, in the most economical way possible. 

Now granted, sometimes it's just a pun, and that's great, too, and people enjoy those. But I think for me, the gold standard is you hear a joke, and you're like, 'I agree with that.' That's a novel point. The way it was said was really creative and surprising, and it was short and had a little cussive energy to it. And so, I'm always looking at jokes being like, can I take one word out of here? Can I use a different word that takes one syllable out between what I think is the funniest word at the end of the joke? It's microsurgery that I think would probably annoy most people to watch us do but it does make a difference when you do it on many jokes in a monologue. That interest kind of compounds into something that I think the audience wouldn't even necessarily clock other than they go, 'Hey, that was really good.' And they can't really say why. And I think that's when we've done our job well, when that happens.

Sadie: What led you to comedy and writing for this show?

Danny: I was an improv kid. And that's how I got into comedy. I grew up here in Southern California. So, I actually grew up listening to Jimmy on the radio when he was on “Kevin and Bean” out here. He was actually a big influence on me as a child. And in a full circle, kind of weird, cosmic way, I feel very lucky to work for him as an adult. Before Jimmy had a late night show, I watched Conan O'Brien every night that was kind of where I fell in love with late night. And when Jimmy got a late night show that was exciting for me.

And then actually, I started my career at Jimmy Kimmel Live! as a college intern, and I've worked there my entire adult life. I was a clip researcher, like Molly mentioned earlier, where I watched TV all day. And then Molly was actually instrumental in my career, every step of the way, really, but Molly hired me as a writer's assistant. And she was very instrumental in me becoming a writer at the show. And then a head writer as well. And so, I feel very lucky that Molly has gone from mentor to friend in my life. And I thank her as often as I can for that.

Molly: It's very easy. He's the hardest working person I've ever met outside of my husband, so he's not a hard person to champion. [laughs] Similarly to Danny's improv path, I did Second City in Chicago. I grew up watching Johnny Carson, and then Conan O'Brien and I loved late night TV, absolutely loved it, never missed it. I was a big babysitter, so I was always watching late night after kids went to sleep.

It never occurred to me that people were writing those words. I think that's what makes a good host. You don't know that that's written and a lot of it, you know, obviously isn't. But it I think that that's what makes a really good writing team and a really good host, where it just feels conversational. And when I learned there were late night writers, I couldn't believe it. That felt like a dream job to me. I started as the assistant to the executive producer, then moved over, worked in segment for a while, I was producing the guest segments, then writer’s assistant, writer, head writer, and now head writer and executive producer.

I absolutely love my job. I love late night television. I think there's such a magic to waking up as a writer with a blank page, I will say magical and daunting to wake up with an empty page and write some thoughts down. Things that I would genuinely say and joke about to my friends, and I get paid to do it to write them for television. And especially now in the current political climate, it helps me with my sadness. I wake up every morning, honestly, reading the news feeling both angry and sad. And having an outlet for that - I feel very grateful for that - I get to put it somewhere and hopefully make a dent in or influence or make someone laugh in some dark times, or maybe even change someone's opinion politically, which I know is impossible. 

So, I just I really love my job and really grateful for it. It doesn't feel like work, which I think is the best type of job. I'm with a great group of people who are a lot of fun, and I get to do something I love - so I feel very grateful.

Danny: And now it's extra exciting, because you could think of a joke at your kitchen table in the morning and the former president of the United States will angrily tweet about, multiple times. I mean, that's like winning the lottery, if you're one of us, you know?

Molly: [laughs] Absolutely!

Sadie: [laughs] That’s definitely a big win. Do you have a favorite segment or bit from the show that you and your team put together?

Molly: Two things come to mind. One is the 20th anniversary show that we did, which felt like a real celebration of the last two decades. But also, I feel like it was such a tightly written show, and I thought it was a beautiful tribute to what we've all done. I love the bits that require a lot of participation like “Handsome Men's Club,” “I Wanna Channing All Over Your Tatum,” I like those big multi-celebrity bits that you get to work with a lot of different talent and make something great together.

And I also would just say, I think, truly, I think what we've been doing since Trump has attempted to and taken power is incredibly rewarding and important right now. And it feels really good every day to be a part of a team that doesn't want to normalize this behavior and hold politicians accountable, while also making stupid jokes about their gas. It feels really nice to feel like on the right side of history, and I hope our kids will look back and know we were not going along with the madness that's going on in the country today, that we were holding these people accountable. And it feels good to be on that team.

Danny: Agreed. And, for me, I think there's some high-profile examples of things we've done that people have seen. But really on a day to day basis the ones I'm proud of, are the ones maybe the audience's don't even clock, but we know behind the scenes that our team worked really hard and exhibited great skill in scripting and production and props and everything where sometimes it's like, yeah, someone came up with an idea this morning and at 4:30 a finished piece is running, but they don't know that our props master Chris drove all the way to Chinatown, because he found one shop that had this one particular thing and he got it back. I'm just constantly amazed at the team we have from top to bottom. When there's a bit rolling at 4:30 that I know got made soup to nuts that day, those are the ones I'm the proudest of.

Sadie: Any advice for writers who want to break in as late night writers? What should they have in their tackle box?

Molly: It's such a simple, stupid piece of advice, but my advice is to write every day. And if you want to be a late night writer, I think that means writing jokes every day. You don't have to put them anywhere. I used to tell writers put them on Twitter because it's the easiest way for us when we take submissions, first thing that I always do is go to see if this writer has Twitter and I would look to see what kind of joke writer they are because I think it's the easiest way to craft a joke and the perfect limited amount of space and time on Twitter, and relevant and current.

And people who can write jokes the day of something happens, I think that's important. As you've heard, our deadlines are so tight. So, I think being able to write under pressure is key. And you have to almost train yourself to do that by doing it every day. So, I would say writing topical jokes every day, put them in a journal, throw them away, they're going to be garbage for a while. I will tell you, when I don't write for a while if there's a break or a vacation, and I'm not writing jokes, it takes a while for me to get back to getting good at it again. It's like exercise. You have to keep doing it to remain strong. So that's a very simple, big piece of advice, but I think it's worthwhile.

Danny: That's also my number one piece of advice. Usually, when you submit to a late night show, you write a packet. And some people will take weeks and weeks to write a packet. And the sad truth is when you're a late night writer, you write a packet every single day. And so, to have the speed and agility and writing strength to do that, you really do have to be doing it. It's preparation meeting opportunity when you hear your favorite show is hiring, you don't want to say to yourself, 'Well, yeah, I should Google how to write a late night joke.' You need to be like, 'I already have good material I can put in this. I can write new material based on today's news.' And from our side of the table, if we read a packet that is fantastic and was clearly written in the last couple of days we go, ‘this person can work here’ and so you just need to get yourself to that position. It's really hard, and it's gonna take a long time. And like Molly said, you will be bad at it for a long time, all of us are. But you just you have to be in shape when the opportunity comes.

Molly: If we're reading a packet that has Monica Lewinsky jokes in it, we're like, 'Mmkay, great joke, but that one's old.' [laughs]

Danny: [laughs] We can tell when they're old. You may not think we can tell but the people reading your packets are late night writers who are very in tune with the news. There are times where there'll be a joke about like the inventor of ketchup died, and I'll be like Google when that happened, because I can tell it's old.

Molly: We're like wine connoisseurs, we know the age of a joke. We're like, ‘That's a '98!’ [laughs]

Danny: [laughs] Slice it open and count the rings. I think one of the best things you can put in a packet too is look at what a big news story that's going on, and like Trump in court is an easy one, but the chipping away at women's health rights, that's one that's not so easy to make funny. But if you can make it funny and make a great point about that, you will be a fantastic late night writer…when our country is facing something serious, and Jimmy's got to go on the air and do 15 minutes of comedy material, you are a very useful person if you can crack that story and find a good angle on it and make it cathartic and funny for people to watch.

Sadie: For those who don't know what a packet is, what is it? And what do you put in there? And how often should you be updating it?

Danny: Well, the first thing I would say is I would not have one you update, I would write a fresh one every time you submit. That's something no show will require of you, that's just personal advice. And I know when we get packets, we really have no guidelines, because we don't want people to spend a month of time writing a packet. But we do need to see you know how you write. Because I did that same thing for a long time. I had one packet, I'd be like, ‘Oh, I'll put new jokes in it.’ But I think what I was sending around was a very stale packet, it didn't feel of the moment.

Typically, a packet is a few pages of jokes and a few pages of bit ideas. Certain shows have certain guidelines, but we don't.

And you want to watch the show you're submitting to. We can again, we can tell when it wasn't written for our show. Some people even forget to change, like all the Seth's to Jimmy's, and that's an immediate throw on the no pile, because it's very competitive to get these jobs and what we're looking for someone who's great, someone who wants to work here, someone who actually likes our show, and I think that applies for any television show anywhere, you want someone who's a fan of the work you do. So, I think there's really no magic formula other than just write great material that the people who run the show go, 'God, I wish we could use this material tonight. We have to hire this person.' I mean, that's an automatic hire for us.

Molly: And also, original ideas. Like when people send a packet and they take an idea we have already like, 'Oh, do ‘Live Witness News,’ but about this topic,' that's not an idea. You just put a little sprinkle on something that was already made. So original ideas in a packet are key.

Danny: I think too, to that point, like “Live Witness News,” we already have 19 writers here, we can write those all day long. But if you, as an applicant, have some really interesting background - one of our more recent writers, Troy, I just love his backstory, which is he went to law school, he worked at a bank, before he worked for us, he's also a stand-up comedian, a hilarious guy, but he did fraud protection at a bank. And I'm always going what an interesting way for him to approach the Trump trial right now. Right? It's like, he kind of knows about this stuff. And so, if there's anything from your background that you feel like you can write a bit, that will then also work on the show, obviously, that's kind of the trick, right? It's like, if you may have one background, and it would not feel authentic if Jimmy was presenting it in a certain way, but if you can manufacture it, so it does, we love a new idea we haven't thought of yet. But again, if we read your packet and go, ‘we would put this on the air right now’ you are a shoo-in for a job.

Tune into Jimmy Kimmel Live! weeknights 11:35 p.m. EST on ABC and watch full episodes on Hulu.