Jimmy Kimmel paid tribute to Bob Saget with a nearly five-minute segment to start “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Monday night, reflecting on their friendship and the extraordinary charisma of the actor and comedian who died Sunday at 65.
Kimmel delivered the emotional message onstage in the same fashion he does his nightly monologue but before the audience’s arrival, fighting past tears while saying he had already tried to tape the tribute “like 14 times.”
Kimmel noted how “sweetest” was a word he saw repeatedly in reference to Saget Sunday after news of the “Full House” star’s death broke. Kimmel said it was for a reason.
“Bob was the sweetest,” Kimmel said. “He was the sweetest man.”
Kimmel also recounted how Saget often called or texted him with compliments.
“He would write sometimes just to tell me he loved me,” Kimmel said. “He did that for many people.
“He was so funny,” Kimmel continued. “And I’m not talking about ‘Full House’ or ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’ or stand-up comedy or movies. He was funny for real. When you walked into a party and saw Bob and his wife, Kelly, in the corner, you’d go straight to them and stay for as long as you could – because he had something funny to say about everything and nothing bad to say about anyone. Never. If there were people he didn’t like he kept it to himself.”
Kimmel went on to discuss how he spent time with Saget while helping him with a charity that supported research on a rare disease that Saget’s sister was struck with and eventually died from, and how meaningful the efforts were to Saget.
Kimmel also reflected on a night Saget and fellow “Full House” star John Stamos appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and the three of them talked about the late comedian Don Rickles.
“You could see when John and Bob were talking about how much they loved Don, how much they loved each other,” Kimmel said.
Watch the whole “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” segment here or above, including the clip from the Saget and Stamos appearance.