Probably 80 of the people watching it didnt 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 didnt 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 cohost 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 youre just instantly happy that its 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, id 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. Thats disappointing. Jimmy well. Jimmy so then after that we started putting him in everything. Every sketch. Id be like hmmm. You know what this could use . Fred willard. And wed 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, trumps official nickname maker. Gonzo aga, the chancellor of gonzaga university. Charles potter, premarital fornication activist. Jean moran, opalocka county election official. Renee boucher, rand pauls neighbor. Gill fredericks Carnival Cruise director. Hal pembroke, caucus coordinator. He played the balloon boy. He played ruth bader ginsburg. He played George Washingtons ghost. He played Donald Trumps father in hell. Sometimes hed be in two bits per monologue. I couldnt choose between them and id just say you know what . Do a quick costume change, well put him on twice. We could not get enough fred. He never had any time to prepare for these bits. Wed call him at noon and say hey, today youre going to be a boat captain. Hed say, aye, aye. Hed be on set by 2 00. Wed do one runthrough 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 youre 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. Im fred willard. I love this country. Reverend. Its ill be right back. Okay. [ bleep ], [ bleep ], [ bleep ]. I spent so much time backstage just now i was almost late, signing autographs. Andtimeconsuming is explaining to people who you are. It is i frederick c. Trump. You know what you sneed you need some chumba and wumba. Thanks for your help and directions getting here. Youre right. The bus stops right in front. Since youre here is there anything youd like to say to donald directly . Ooh, yes. Listen, you little [ bleep ]. When you get down here im going to personally ask my friend satan, whos a great guy incidentally. Jimmy really . Im having a little trouble believing this is you, justice ginsburg. Oh, so you think im 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 boopty 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 thats weird. You look just like fred willard. Thats strange. Ive been told that. And its quite flattering. Jimmy im sure, yeah. What in gods name was that . Its the pirates. Those arent just any pirates. Those are space pirates. Jimmy i dont 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. Im so excited to be on tv. I cant believe it. Like i was saying its not every day you find a 6 1 2 kilos of cocaine. Jimmy you probably shouldnt be out there. Be careful with that hurricane. Oh, theres my ride. My ride. Whee jimmy whats happening . Oh, no. We hit an iceberg. Jimmy wait, arent you sailing the caribbean . Global warming, jimmy. Everythings 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. Isnt 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, its christmas, you godless hollywood snowflake. You intolerant useewillow. 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 . Its jennifer. Fred willard, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] jimmy well, fred willard. Freds daughter hope has asked that if you care to make a donation in his name make it to Childrens Hospital of los angeles. When we come back, some of freds good friends, old and new, will share memories of the great comedy actor, and man, fred willard. Well be right back. Dicky Abcs Jimmy Kimmel live, brought to you by target. [music begins to play together by sia] come now set the past on fire stand up raise your face to the sky my love together we can take it higher together we can take it higher come now set the past on fire stand up raise your face to the sky my love together we can take it higher [cheering from video audio plays] together we can take it higher show me reality. Tv. Where my hobbits at . Play lord of the rings. Play my straight outta the shire playlist. I want to see the king. Find lebron. Search more cartoons. Play the last o. G. Take me to the streets, play sesame street. Me want more cookies. Find the things you love with a voice command. Introducing at t tv. With live tv and access to streaming apps. Plug in and watch, with easy selfsetup. Shipped directly to you. So as you head back out on the road, well be doing what we do best. Providing some calm amidst the chaos. 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Its just that its. Lavender, yes it is. Old spice, its for men. But i like the smell of it. [music playing] 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 freds passing this weekend we reached out to some of his friends and collaborators and asked if theyd 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 Carsons tonight show. I cant believe i got to grow up and not only work with fred freld 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 freds 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 couldnt say no. Thank you, fred. God bless you. Its 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, im not finished. And he wasnt finished. I think he could have gone on basically forever. He had an astounding a rare talent that people on the set would watch in wonderment. Im 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, ive been thinking about a dog show. And i went, wow. Thats a great idea. So we were training the dogs, we own the dogs and were getting them ready for the big show in the third act. You know what . I think theres 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 its 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 thats what fred did with every project 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 freds style as a performer and his goodnatured obliviousness that there would be no phil dunphy without fred willard. And the beautiful irony of him being cast as phils dad was almost too much for me to bear. Why is it still going . How hard did you press start . It doesnt matter. Just press end the task. But only on the right side of the button. Why wouldnt you tell me that first . Hmm. Everybody warned me this would happen. Fred was his hardworking goodnatured 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, ill see you on the next one. Thats 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 marys for a bingo party. Hamburger marys for those who dont 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 wouldnt 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. Well miss you, fred. Good lord it was a Christmas Party i do not drink i had no idea those little brahms would trigg 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 weeks script is really good. He goes, im not funny in it, but boy, its a good script. And phil told the writers and myself. And we kind of laughed because we knew we didnt 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 didnt 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 ill miss you fred, but youre with me. I see you. I laugh at you as i think about you. And yes, ill 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. Frerksd s fred, say hi to mary. And sleep well, my friend. I love you. You should listen to this too because youll 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 its jerry, thats actually thats actually very pretty. Who wrote that . Who wrote it . Oh, i dont know. Its an old poem. Probably some old guy dead and gone. Jimmy well be right back with one more remembrance of fred. Right now, theres over a million Walmart Associates doing their best to keep our nation going, while keeping us safe. Weve given masks to all our people and were helping our customers practice social distancing in stores. Weve implemented shorter hours, so we can sanitize our stores from top to bottom while also restocking our products. But if anything, these days have reminded us why we do what we do. Because despite everything thats changed, one thing hasnt, and thats our devotion to you and our communities. Were working together, instore and online, through pickup and delivery, to make sure you can still get the essentials you need. And as we move forward, know that our First Priority will always be to keep you and our associates safe. Is all about protecting one thing will always be to keep you and our associates safe. The fun anywhere under the sun fun. Sidewalk fun longlasting fun poolside fun. Banana boat sunscreen lasts as long as the fun does. When we tossed the stuffcreate the that wasnt working. Ice, stuff like footlong bills and fees from nowhere, timewasting stores, misleading ads, unhelpful help centers, and saved the stuff that was working. Like verizons 4g lte network, plus unlimited data, messages and minutes. Its a simple system. Trim the bad. Make the good better, and way cheaper. Meet visible. Unlimited data on verizons 4g lte network. Just 25 for your first month. Join us at visible. Com. Jimmy welcome back to Jimmy Kimmel Live from my house. Tonight were 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 id forgotten about. Tonights remembrance of fred willard is not the first one weve had on our show. For whatever reason, i dont know, i think it might have been april fools 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 dont 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 frel fred willard who passed away aid 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 cant read that. As what . [ cheers and applause ] that card right there. Hell 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 its terrible. Its not good at all. Im sorry about that. Jimmy fred willard, a true humanitarian. Well be right back. 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For people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay. Com. Yeah, im done after this meeting. Were just going over how people who switch to progressive can save hundreds. Hey mara yeah jamies the guy running it. Mara, youre not on mute. I once had to fake jury duty to get out of talking about his yogurt preferences. Mara, you know youre not on mute, right . Oh, theres a mute button . Yeah, thats flo the one who looks like shed smile while she sleeps. Flo i always smile. Mara thats why i said that. This is gonna be americas favorite breakfast. They just dont know it yet. ding these are a few of my favorite things. You order a breakfast sandwich and thats when wendys makes it. Not weeks. Or months ago. Try your new favorite. Get a free breakfast baconator with offer in the app. When we tossed the stuffcreate the that wasnt working. Ice, stuff like footlong bills and fees from nowhere, timewasting stores, misleading ads, unhelpful help centers, and saved the stuff that was working. Like verizons 4g lte network, plus unlimited data, messages and minutes. Its a simple system. Trim the bad. Make the good better, and way cheaper. Meet visible. Unlimited data on verizons 4g lte network. Just 25 for your first month. Join us at visible. Com. 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. Well see you tomorrow. Good night. Announcer this is nightline. Tonight, the class of covid. High School Seniors graduating into a pandemic. Im going to finish for him. Im going to do this. Dreams derailed but not destroyed. Its taught me to be grateful for everything. With no pomp and tough circumstance, what the future holds for students this fall. Plus, abc newss Kaylee Hartung journey from covid19 patient to plasma donor. The incredible story of hope and possibility in these trying times. Announcer nightline starts right now with juju chang. Good evening. Thanks for joining us. They are the class thatll go down in history as the class of