Jimmy and I have been talking since he started 10 years ago. We sat down together for the first time for his first week on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," but mainly, we just walk together after interviews.
In conversation, we walk up hallways, we walk down hallways, always with a camera rolling. And we stroll through newsrooms, building a friendship one step at a time.
"Are you ready to take one last walk before you switch time slots?" I asked Jimmy.
"I would be honored to walk with you, George," he replied.
"We've walked many, many miles," I said.
"We have walked so many miles," he agreed. "We should be so much thinner."
That one last walk before Jimmy walks out onto his new set for the first time, he knows it's a big deal. And he acknowledges that talent and hard work have helped get him here.
"But there's also just an element of luck. I mean, I worked in radio. I was fired from a lot of jobs. I wound up getting a job at KROQ in L.A. It just so happened that this radio station happened to be in the town where people make TV shows and people who make TV shows happened to listen to the radio station," said Jimmy.
One thing led to another, and along came "Jimmy Kimmel Live." Along the way, he kept asking me for one thing: a vest from Mrs. Pennacchio.
"I keep telling you I want to wear a matching vest with you, and you keep not giving me a vest," he said.
So he finally got one, and he wore it Kimmel-style, with no shirt underneath.
"Now that I have the vest, I feel I can do anything. I'm like Superman with his cape," said Jimmy.
He's made the leap to 11:35 p.m. with his whole gang of family and friends. But, Jimmy, where does that leave me?
"We have to figure out something for you," he said. "Yes. You know what I should do? I should adopt you, so technically you're a part of my family. 'It's my son, George!'"
