Here's Why Jimmy Kimmel's The Man Show Flopped

Popular "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" segments include "Celebrities Read Mean Tweets" and "Pedestrian Question." But these are evolved versions of Jimmy Kimmel's comedy. In "The Man Show," Kimmel ran after women, asking them to "end women's suffrage," (via YouTube) and devoted a chunk of time to women jumping on trampolines (via YouTube). It isn't difficult to understand why Kimmel began distancing himself from the show as the third wave of feminism began taking root in the U.S. (via Vox).

However, Kimmel maintains that the reason he left (and ended) the show was because his audience didn't get his brand of humor. He told The Daily Beast in 2018, "The reason we left that show was because there was a specific day on which Adam [Carolla] and I looked at each other and said, 'It's time to end this show.'" He went on to describe a joke Carolla had made that went over the heads of every audience member. "They'd never heard that joke before, if it is even a joke. And that was disheartening. And that's when we decided to stop doing the show." 

While the show continues to have fans, the audience had changed — and Kimmel needed to adapt.