Monday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” kicked off with something especially fun for fans of television history: an appearance by the old “This is an ABC color presentation, in glorious red, white and blue” animated bumper.
The special episode, called “Intermission Accomplished: A Halftime Tribute to Trump,” is a star-studded celebration of the exact halfway point in Donald Trump’s presidency — a milestone reached on Sunday for those of you keeping track — in the style of variety show extravaganzas that used to be common. So to set the mood, it begins with a recreation of the iconic intro ABC used to deploy to let viewers know they were about to see something that wasn’t just another black and white production.
Brief history lesson: ABC didn’t start airing color programming until 1962, which at first was limited to just animated shows like “The Flintstones” and “The Jetsons”. And the network’s primetime lineup wasn’t all in color until 1967, hence the need for a colorful fanfare to clue people in. You can watch another version of it here if you like.
History aside, guests on the special episode include Alyssa Milano, Leon Bridges, Fred Willard, Fred Armisen, Anthony Atamanuik, Bobby Moynihan, Will Arnett, Paul Scheer, Josh Gad, Aloe Blacc, and Jeff Ross.
Anyway, the intro is a lot of fun, and you can watch it here below.
TONIGHT – Jimmy #Kimmel Live INTERMISSION ACCOMPLISHED: A Star-Studded Halftime Tribute To @RealDonaldTrump with @ArnettWill @PaulScheer @Alyssa_Milano @Fred_Willard #FredArmisen @TonyAtamanuik @BibbyMoynihan @RealJeffreyRoss @JoshGad @LeonBridges @AloeBlacc & more… pic.twitter.com/cwWUqtkQdj
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) January 22, 2019