I'll just be having a few friends over, thanks

Hey, Houston! Jimmy Kimmel wants to stay at your house during Super Bowl weekend.

Kimmel needs accommodations in the Houston area -- preferably with a view of Reliant Stadium -- while here to host a Super Bowl-themed show Jan. 30.

Kimmel, whose show appears weeknights at 11:05 p.m. on Channel 13, lamented his plight Wednesday night and made a televised plea for a bed to rest his head.

The offers are flooding in -- 250 by mid-Thursday afternoon, according to executive producer Duncan Gray -- and Houstonians have until the end of the weekend to make their case.

"The idea is to find a great group of people who we'd have the most fun with and really try to make them part of the show," Gray said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles.

Anyone interested in offering Kimmel some Houston hospitality can apply on the ABC Web site (www.abc.com). Entrants, who must be 13 or older, have to tell about their house in 50 words or fewer and what makes it the best place for Kimmel to host the show.

Proximity to Reliant Stadium is important, but "that is a secondary consideration," Gray said. "It's really about who lives in the house."

I'm not all that close to Reliant Stadium, but I don't think I'd have much of a shot at this anyway. "Hey, honey, you know that guy who used to host the show that features women jumping on trampolines? Can he crash here for the weekend? He says he'll bring the beer." I don't think so.

The Kimmel team got the idea to come to Houston for the Super Bowl last month, but when they checked into accommodations, everything was booked. So they decided to depend on the kindness of strangers.

"Necessity is the mother of invention," Gray said."Also, creatively, it's much more of a fun idea."

The Kimmel team will narrow the finalists down to between three and five by next Tuesday, with the winner announced the week of Jan. 20.

The inhabitants of the winning house might receive a small honorarium to cover any wear and tear on the house. "But it's not like a big movie coming to town," Gray said.

Therre's yet another blow to the hopes of the Make Money Fast By Renting Your House Out For An Outrageous Amount Of Money crowd. Maybe next time.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on January 09, 2004 to Elsewhere in Houston | TrackBack