Jimmy Kimmel was a recent guest on Ted Danson’s “Where Everybody Knows Your Name ” podcast and revealed that he nearly lost the job of hosting an ABC late-night talk show to none other than Jon Stewart . It was the early 2000s, and Stewart was a few years into his stint as the host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” ABC was looking for a late-night replacement for Bill Maher, who had been hosting the half-hour political talk show “Politically Incorrect” since it moved to the network in 1997.

“They wanted a traditional late-night talk show in that slot,” Kimmel said (via The Daily Beast ). “Jon and I have the same manager, James ‘Baby Doll’ Dixon, and James was about to close this deal for Jon to host the show… [ABC chairman Lloyd Braun] watched my tape, and he was like, ‘I think

See Full Page