On Tuesday night, Jimmy Kimmel’s long awaited return monologue made reference to his time in radio. It went by largely unnoticed given the other issues at stake, but it’s fun to contemplate his on-air work on that other medium.
 
He talked about his days in Seattle radio and how “some guy named Larry” wanted him to do a promotion involving donuts and when he refused, he was fired.
 
“The comedian said the man, “Larry,” tried to force him to do a bit called “Jobs for Donuts,” where “people would call in with a joke and I would give them donuts.” The idea did not go over well with Kimmel, who said he made fun of his boss for suggesting the idea."
 
That’s the “hole” story. But maybe not the whole story.
 
According to the Seattle Times, what really got him the axe was going into meetings with his P.D. and secretly taping them, then playing them back on the air to ridicule his boss. Small wonder he didn’t last long.
 
The station in question was KZOK-FM in Seattle, and that P.D. was a guy named Larry Sharp. In Feb. 1990, he gave both Kimmel and the morning man the boot, because the ratings weren’t what they should have been.
 
From the Times in 1990:
 
“The old morning team, Kent Voss and Jimmy Kimmel, pulled several stunts during their short stay in Seattle. You may remember the song they recorded to the tune of ``Quinn the Mighty Eskimo'' lampooning the then-owner of the Mariners, George Argyros. It also prompted the baseball club to cancel about $8,000 worth of advertising from the station, according to Sharp.
 
`"They did have some loyal fans,'' Sharp conceded. `"Unfortunately, not enough of them."

Now THAT sounds more like the radio biz I know.