Jimmy Kimmel Breaks Social Media Silence Hours Before 'Live!' Returns to Air

Jimmy Kimmel has finally spoken out after his late-night show's suspension ... and hours before he's set to return to air.

Check out his post on Instagram... it's a photo of him posing with Norman Lear, and he captioned it with a simple, "Missing this guy today."

Why is he missing Norman, you may ask? Well ... Norman was a huge proponent of the First Amendment and most known for his comedy series, "All in the Family," which was the first sitcom to touch on political and often controversial topics.

The show also infamously landed Norman on Richard Nixon’s "enemies list."

Furthermore, Norman's show "Maude" got him labeled as an enemy to the traditional American family due to a 1972 episode that showed a woman deciding to get an abortion.

The screenwriter and producer helped challenge the FCC in 1976, co-signing a lawsuit with the Writers Guild of America and others after the organization declared all programming between 7 and 9 PM must be family-friendly. The lawsuit -- based on the First Amendment -- was a success.

The outspoken TV icon died in 2023, and Jimmy shared an emotional tribute to him on 'Live!', raving ... "He taught us so much about so many serious things, always making us laugh while he did it, and everyone who works in or even watches television owes him a great debt. Especially me."

Jimmy is set to return to ABC Tuesday -- 6 days after his show was indefinitely suspended over his controversial comments about Charlie Kirk's death.