Jimmy Fallon Interested In Making Kareem Abdul Jabbar A Regular On Guys With Kids

Jimmy Fallon is interested in the idea of adding Lakers legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar as a regular on his fall-due NBC comedy, “Guys with Kids.”

The basketball Hall of Famer makes a comedic cameo in the premiere episode of the series, dating one of the wives of the “Guys with Kids.”

“Especially shooting the show [in front of a live studio audience] in Los Angeles, the crowd went nuts,” Jimmy said via satellite during the panel for his show at the Television Critics Association summer tour, referring to the audiences’ reaction to the athlete.

“He killed,” Jimmy continued of Kareem’s cameo. “It was really funny. I mean you’ve seen him in ‘Airplane!’ So, he just destroyed. I’d love to bring him back for cameos, if not one of the regulars.”

“Guys with Kids” focuses on three male friends – one divorced, and two married – dealing with being parents, and Jimmy thinks if Kareem came back, he’d be great in a scene with one of the dad’s children.

“If he can come in and have a heart to heart with the baby [it would be funny]. He’s a very tall man,” Jimmy said.

The late night host said when he originally pitched the idea for the show, which stars Jesse Bradford, Zach Cregger, Anthony Anderson, “The Cosby Show’s” Tempestt Bledsoe and “The Sopranos’” Jamie-Lynn Sigler, it had a title, which was not suitable for air.

“When we pitched the idea for ‘DILFs,’ which you should know, if you know what a MILF is, this is a DILF and… thank God NBC said, ‘Yeah, you probably can’t call it ‘DILFs,’ so we’ll have to change that.’ Basically it’s about young parents,” Jimmy said. “It’s very positive, it’s very fun, it’s very like ‘Late Night,’ in a way, because we just want to have a good time.”

Jimmy explained the comedy takes a lighthearted approach to the concerns of less-experienced parents.

“It’s not really about what a drag it is to have kids. It’s more like, I’m bringing a kid to the baseball game and I forgot diapers. How do I make a diaper out of a hot dog wrapper and a napkin,” he said.

“Guys with Kids” premieres Wednesday, September 26 on NBC at 8:30 ET/PT.

Jolie Lash

Copyright © 2024 by NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This material may not be republished, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read More

‘90 Day Fiancé: Love In Paradise’ Returning With Dramatic & Wild New Season