and that's it. thanks for watching. >> jimmy kimmel next. ♪ pa-da-pa, pa-da-pa, pa-da-pa ♪ pa-da-pa, pa-da-pa, pa-da-pa ♪ jimmy kimmel live >> this is ridiculous. >> jimmy: hi. i'm jimmy kimmel. tonight's show will be a special show. it will be a sad show. but we will also laugh a lot as we pay tribute to a lovely and genuinely funny man named fred willard. fred left this earth friday night at age 86. when i was a kid, i spent a lot of time sitting in front of a tv i had on my desk in my room and one of the shows i would watch religiously on channel 5 in las vegas was "fernwood 2 night." this was a parody of a talk show starring martin mull as barth gimble and fred willard as his sidekick and announcer jerry hubbard. i loved this show. this is one of those shows that

probably 80% of the people watching it didn't get. maybe 90%. it was definitely my kind of show. and fred was so great on it. he was the oblivious second banana. he would chime in and say dumb things in a very earnest and genial way. he and martin mull were great together. they went on to make a fake documentary called "the history of white people in america" that i enjoyed. they were a married couple on "roseanne." and then of course fred was discovered by a new generation of fans thanks to the great christopher guest movies "waiting for guffman" and "best in show" and fred was in "anchorman." he was on "modern family." he played basically the same character in everything. he was the same guy. because it always worked. so why would you change it? it didn't matter if the movie or show was good, bad, terrible or great. fred was always funny. and he was more than just funny. he had a light inside him. you could see a glint of it in his eyes that made everyone around him happy. i was lucky enough that he agreed to be my guest co-host early on the show. years ago we were shooting

something at his house and when our crew showed up he was very upset. because his wife, mary, had the gardener throw away their christmas tree. and fred was uncharacteristically down about it. now, this was june. this was a full six months after christmas. and he was upset that mary threw out the tree. he told my brother john he was upset because he liked to exercise by sawing pieces off the tree. so he was depressed, he was sad it was gone, but he did the shoot anyway. he got it together. and then in the middle of the day we had a new christmas tree delivered to his house. we somehow managed to find a pine tree in june and he was just absolutely thrilled when it showed up. his mood changed dramatically. and in a lot of ways fred willard was like a christmas tree in june. a little weird, familiar, but still surprising to see it. full of good memories and you're just instantly happy that it's there. so over the past couple years fred became a very regular part

of our show. a few weeks after mary, his wife of 50 years passed away, i'd heard that he was feeling down and we wanted to come up with something for him to do. and as it turned out, trump had just announced that he was forming the space force. and when we looked it up, when we googled the word "space force," we found out that fred had starred in a show many years ago called "space force." ♪ ♪ the universe ♪ we keep the galaxy from getting worse ♪ ♪ on the space force ♪ >> jimmy: he keeps the galaxy from getting worse. so obviously the minute we saw that we called fred and asked if he would like to reprise his role on "space force." and whenever we called him every time we asked him to do anything he said yes. >> space to earth. [ cheers and applause ] come in, earth. >> jimmy: this is earth. >> this is commander fred willard. do you hear me?

>> jimmy: yes, commander willard. we hear you. >> to whom am i speaking? is this jay leno? >> jimmy: no. jay retired. this is jimmy kimmel. >> oh. that's disappointing. >> jimmy: well. >> jimmy: so then after that we started putting him in everything. every sketch. i'd be like "hmmm. you know what this could use? fred willard." and we'd call fred willard. there were days, every day the writers pitch ideas for the show, there were days when i would get different writers pitching five different bit ideas for fred. we put him in everything. he played dr. ned stewart, superintendent of the new york military academy. len drasen, trump's official nickname maker. gonzo aga, the chancellor of gonzaga university. charles potter, premarital fornication activist. jean moran, opa-locka county election official. renee boucher, rand paul's neighbor. gill fredericks carnival cruise director. hal pembroke, caucus coordinator. he played the balloon boy. he played ruth bader ginsburg. he played george washington's

ghost. he played donald trump's father in hell. sometimes he'd be in two bits per monologue. i couldn't choose between them and i'd just say you know what? do a quick costume change, we'll put him on twice. we could not get enough fred. he never had any time to prepare for these bits. we'd call him at noon and say hey, today you're going to be a boat captain. he'd say, aye, aye. he'd be on set by 2:00. we'd do one run-through of the script that was usually not finished yet. and then he and i would do it with no rehearsal live in front of the audience. and he nailed it every time. dozens of times. up to 86 years old he killed it. we loved being around fred. we loved having him with us. and what you're about to see our time with fred are some of my favorite moments from the show. >> jimmy: if there is such a thing as a comedy genius he definitely is one. please welcome the always funny fred willard! ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> hi. i'm fred willard.

i love this country. >> reverend. it's -- >> i'll be right back. >> okay. >> [ bleep ], [ bleep ], [ bleep ]. >> i spent so much time backstage just now i was almost late, signing autographs. and time-consuming is explaining to people who you are. >> it is i frederick c. trump. >> you know what you need? you need some chumba and some wumba. >> thanks for your help and directions getting here. you're right. the bus stops right in front. >> since you're here is there anything you'd like to say to donald directly? >> ooh, yes. listen, you little [ bleep ]. when you get down here i'm going to personally ask my friend satan, who's a great guy incidentally. >> jimmy: really? i'm having a little trouble believing this is you, justice ginsburg. >> oh, so you think i'm just a random loony who wandered in here, high as a kite off pain pills he stole from a dog? >> jimmy: yeah.

maybe. kind of. >> bingo. >> it works like this. our thing hits the space thing. and whoa nelly. it just sort of skedaddles around and boopity beep bops off in another direction. planet saved. >> what if the pieces of the asteroid come hurtling toward earth and hit us? >> well, jimmy, i think we just have to stay positive. >> carl jetson, decorative wind chime salesman. >> jimmy: that's weird. you look just like fred willard. that's strange. >> i've been told that. and it's quite flattering. >> jimmy: i'm sure, yeah. >> what in god's name was that? >> it's the pirates. >> those aren't just any pirates. those are space pirates. >> jimmy: i don't know. how can you tell if thomas jefferson has been to your house? >> the drain is clogged and your slaves are pregnant. >> as we say in the tuna

business, yes, we can. >> i'm so excited to be on tv. i can't believe it. like i was saying it's not every day you find a 6 1/2 kilos of cocaine. >> jimmy: you probably shouldn't be out there. be careful with that hurricane. >> oh, there's my ride. my ride. whee! >> jimmy: what's happening? >> oh, no. we hit an iceberg. >> jimmy: wait, aren't you sailing the caribbean? >> global warming, jimmy. everything's all [ bleep ] up. >> jimmy: oh, my goodness. is that -- is that -- >> a satisfied customer. i once saw it eat a whole baby pig. >> jimmy: oh, my god. >> isn't he magnificent? >> jimmy: listen, this is taking a bit of a turn. i thought you were going to apologize. >> thank you. >> jimmy: have fun but pace yourself. okay? >> oh, beat it, prude. >> jimmy: may i say happy

holidays to you, santa. >> happy holidays, my ass. listen, it's christmas, you godless hollywood snowflake. >> you intolerant pussywillow. >> are you some kind of sensitive little star flake? >> time for you to move to communist canada you pudgy little [ bleep ] show some respect to this [ bleep ] feminist icon, you little bitch. >> ho, ho, ho, you [ bleep ] fruitcake. >> what is your real name? >> it's jennifer. >> fred willard, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: well, fred willard. fred's daughter hope has asked that if you care to make a donation in his name make it to children's hospital of los angeles. when we come back, some of fred's good friends, old and new, will share memories of the great comedy actor, and man, fred willard. we'll be right back.

>> dicky: answer's jimmy kimmel live, brought to you by lincoln. so as you head back out on the road, we'll be doing what we do best. swer's jimmy kimmel live, brought to you by lincoln. live, brought to you by lincoln. live, brought to you by lincoln. live, brought to you by lincoln. , brought to you by lincoln. b's j live, brought to you by lincoln. live, brought to you by lincoln. . for a little help, on and off the road. now when you buy or lease a new lincoln, we'll make up to 3 payments on your behalf. now when you buy or lease a new lincoln, this is gonna be america's favorite breakfast. they just don't know it yet. (ding) these are a few of my favorite things. you order a breakfast sandwich and that's when wendy's makes it. not weeks... or months ago. try your new favorite. get a free breakfast baconator with offer in the app.

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unlimited data on verizon's 4g lte network. just $25 for your first month. join us at visible.com. ♪ >> jimmy: welcome back to "jimmy kimmel live from my house." later this week janelle monae, patton oswalt and kevin hart will join us. tonight, though, we dedicate to fred willard. you know, when we got the news of fred's passing this weekend we reached out to some of his friends and collaborators and asked if they'd say some words, share some stories about him. here a remembrance of fred from those who were fortunate enough to work alongside him. >> would you welcome fred willard and bill saluda, the ace trucking company. >> i first saw fred willard with his ace trucking company on johnny carson's tonight show. i can't believe i got to grow up and not only work with fred willard but improvise him as husband and wife.

before "waiting for guffman" i had never improvise aid movie and i was rightfully scared out of my mind. fred was so wildly inventively funny but also so unbelievably strong, in the best way. and i had no choice but to let go and surrender to fred's will. to the point of letting him talk me into wearing those sad unattractive track suits in our audition scene, when i just wanted to look good for one second in the movie. but i couldn't say no. thank you, fred. god bless you. ♪ it's midnight at the oasis >> in one of the first scenes i directed with fred willard the film ran out and i said cut. and fred said, "i'm not finished." and he wasn't finished. i think he could have gone on basically forever.

he had an astounding gift. a rare talent that people on the set would watch in wonderment. i'm so grateful to have worked with him on so many films over the years, and i will miss him terribly. >> when chris guest and i finished "waiting for guffman," we got together and started thinking about what our next project could be. and chris said, i've been thinking about a dog show. and i went, wow. that's a great idea. so we were training the dogs, we own the dogs and we're getting them ready for the big show in the third act. you know what? i think there's a major problem here. how do we make the third act funny? how do you make a dog show funny? the dog show has to be legitimate or it's not going to work. and chris said, what if fred willard was the color

commentator? and that was all you had to do was mention fred willard as a color commentator and the entire act you knew was going to be funny. and that's what fred did with every project he was in. he was a true improvisational genius and the nicest man you could ever want to meet. >> the truth is that i was so heavily influenced by fred's style as a performer and his good-natured obliviousness that there would be no phil dunphy without fred willard. and the beautiful irony of him being cast as phil's dad was almost too much for me to bear. >> why is it still going? >> how hard did you press start? >> it doesn't matter. >> just press end the task. but only on the right side of the button. >> why wouldn't you tell me that

first? >> hmm. everybody warned me this would happen. >> fred was his hard-working good-natured hilarious self all the way to the end. on our wrap day i tried very poorly to tell him how much he meant to me and how much he had influenced my career, and he just smiled and said, "i'll see you on the next one." that's fred. >> my favorite memory of fred willard has nothing to do with "modern family." it has to do with one night when i went to hamburger mary's for a bingo party. hamburger mary's for those who don't know it is a very funny drag bar, female impersonator bar, where the women call bingo and in order to call it you have

to be very dirty and very funny. i was asked if i wouldn't mind being a guest bingo caller on stage. naturally, i was incredibly flattered to be thought of as that dirty and that funny. but first i had to wait for the other guests to get off stage. it was fred willard. and he was so dirty and so funny. we'll miss you, fred. >> good lord! it was a christmas party! i do not drink! i had no idea those little rum balls would trigger a slightly salty pirate impersonation. >> there was one day on "everybody loves raymond" when fred willard went up to phil rosenthal, the show runner, and he said, hey, this week's script is really good. he goes, i'm not funny in it, but boy, it's a good script. and phil told the writers and myself. and we kind of laughed because we knew we didn't have to write him jokes. whatever we wrote, when he said it would be twice as funny.

and he was a genius. part of his genius, fred, was that he didn't know that he was a genius. >> i never enjoyed anyone more in a lifetime in our business, in the entertainment business, than i enjoyed fred willard. i loved him as a man. i adored him as a character. as unique and hilarious a character as anyone i ever worked with. i started to say i'll miss you fred, but you're with me. i see you. i laugh at you as i think about you. and -- yes, i'll miss you. >> fred willard leaves a hole that will not be filled by anybody. there was no one that could take

my breath away with such outrageous and fearless leaps of originality. one of a kind. i was fortunate enough to be barth to his jerry on "fernwood 2 night," and then have 40 more years of working together and laughing together. everybody loved fred but i loved him enough to marry him, even if it was just on the "roseanne" show. he made a beautiful bride. fred, say hi to mary. and sleep well, my friend. i love you. >> you should listen to this too because you'll -- remember me, remember me when i have passed away. remember that i lived and died, as you will too one day. if i can write these few short lines, it will not be in vain. if after i am dead and gone you still recall my name. remember me. i think it's -- >> jerry, that's actually -- that's actually very pretty.

who wrote that? >> who wrote it? oh, i don't know. it's an old poem. probably some old guy dead and gone. >> jimmy: we'll be right back with one more remembrance of fred. ♪ >> dicky: portions of "jimmy kimmel live" are brought to you by coors light, who were helping out americans who could use a beer. misleading ads, me-wasting stores, unhelpful help centers. and saved the stuff that was working. like verizon's 4g lte network. plus unlimited data, messages, and minutes. it's a simple system. trim the bad... make the good better... and way cheaper. meet visible. unlimited data on verizon's 4g lte network. just $25 for your first month. join us at visible.com.

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♪ >> jimmy: welcome back to "jimmy kimmel live from my house." tonight we're paying tribute to our friend and frequent visitor fred willard, who passed away this weekend at 86 years old. fred had a great sense of humor and so this is something that i'd forgotten about. tonight's remembrance of fred willard is not the first one we've had on our show. for whatever reason, i don't know, i think it might have been april fool's day or something, fred was part of a touching tribute to himself. >> we have a lot of fun things planned for you tonight, and i don't want to bring the mood down, especially at the top of the show, but before we start tonight i wanted to take a few moments to acknowledge the life and work of our good friend fred willard who passed away today at the age of 74. fred was a true original from his early wok on the show "fernwood 2 night" to his unforgettable performances in all those great christopher guest movies to his many

appearances on our show. fred was a showman. he was kind. and he was a truly funny man. he will always be remembered. fred, i can't read that. as what? [ cheers and applause ] that card right there. >> he'll be remembered as a true humanitarian. >> jimmy: he will always be remembered as a true humanitarian. fred, when you die for real, can you write more clearly? >> is my penmanship not good? >> jimmy: it's terrible. it's not good at all. >> i'm sorry about that. >> jimmy: fred willard, a true humanitarian. we'll be right back.

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>> jimmy: that is all the time we have tonight. i want to thank everyone who paid tribute to our friend fred willard. i want to apologize to matt damon.

we did run out of time for him. "nightline" is next. thank you for watching. be safe, be smart. we'll see you tomorrow. good night. >> good evening. i'm deborah roberts. tonight, the finale of our special series, prime minister, pandemic, a nation divided. tonight, chicago by the numbers. zeroing in on five zip codes in the heart of america, with a new case of covid-19 is latino. where taking off days from work is not an option. going to the hospital not affordable. and fear of immigration enforcement ever present. >> my mom was going to stay in the hospital and that she could die. that was my biggest >> for many immigrant workers, one donation can mean everything.

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