Bar Closed on Kimmel Show

NEW YORK – There will be no more drinking games on Jimmy Kimmel's new talk show.

During the show's premiere after the Super Bowl, George Clooney passed around a bottle of vodka, rapper Snoop Dogg flipped off the camera several times and an audience member vomited.

Ruffled ABC execs quickly closed the bar that serves drinks to the audience.

Kimmel's show, which is taking over the late-night spot formerly held by Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect, was seen by an average of 4.8 million viewers.

The rocky debut has created a buzz, but network brass found the atmosphere too out of control -- especially in the studio.

"We were not comfortable with the systems in place for serving wine and beer," ABC spokesman Kevin Brockman said.

Daniel Kellison, the show's executive producer, said, "They just said 'let's chill out on it and take it away for now,' and we said fine. We have bigger fish to fry."

ABC had resisted letting the show have a bar in the first place, but Kimmel, speaking earlier this month, said he wanted to make going to the show a more pleasant experience than it normally is for audience members.

"You stand out there for three hours," he said. "They poke you with cattle prods to get in, and then you're forced to laugh and applaud at certain times. I want to make it more of an evening out where people actually enjoy themselves from the beginning of the experience until the end."

Drinks aren't served to the audience on Jay Leno's Tonight show or David Letterman's Late Show. On-air guests at Tonight are asked backstage if they want a drink; Letterman's people won't ask, but will get something if it's requested.

Last June, Tonight show guest Tom Green got staggeringly drunk on the air as a gimmick, an experiment that quickly spiraled out of control.

Despite the crackdown on booze, for a new show seeking attention like Kimmel's, publicity about a raucous opening night might not necessarily be a bad thing in today's competitive TV landscape.

"It gives us some stature in terms of people thinking this is a different show and not a conventional talk show," Kellison said. "Honestly, what we want to do is create a place where the young audience and young talent feel like this is a fun place to come."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.