Late Night's Late Bloomer

2:56 AM PDT 6/23/2011 by Lacey Rose

Behind the scenes as Jimmy Kimmel takes on Jay Leno (again), reveals his crush on David Letterman and opens up about the slow-but-steady ratings climb that has turned this one-time slacker into a sleeper success.

Famous athletes have their bizarre pregame rituals, and so, it seems, do comedians. It's minutes before Jimmy Kimmel Live!'s 7 p.m. taping June 9, and half a dozen members of the host's staff are huddled around him in his sprawling Hollywood office. An associate producer has crafted a tongue-in-cheek line that the group has planned to chant before Kimmel takes off, a tradition that dates to Kimmel's first show, eight-and-a-half years ago.