# Has Jimmy Fallon Ever Had a Guest Meltdown? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2012, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743 "2012-05-03T12:09:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/21 "2012-05-03T21:11:27Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Sorry. I meant to say that Letterman might not have been in on the joke. I have no idea. I just watched the clip and looked up Crispin Glover on wiki. Here’s what [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispin_Glover) had to say about it. > [@](#): > > Glover appeared on Late Night with David Letterman on July 28, 1987, to promote the movie River’s Edge, in which he starred.[6] Unbeknownst to Letterman and the audience, Glover appeared in character as “Rubin”, from a then-unreleased movie Rubin and Ed, wearing platform shoes and a wig. Rather than a conventional interview, Glover staged an Andy Kaufman-like prank. After being goaded by a woman in the audience (who some argue had been planted),[7] Glover stated that he “knew that this was gonna happen” and that “the press, they can do things, they can twist things around”. After challenging Letterman to an arm-wrestling match, Glover delivered an impromptu karate kick a few feet from Letterman while stating, “I’m strong… I can kick!”[8] Letterman then abruptly ended the segment by walking off stage, saying “I’m going to check on the Top 10”, as the program cut to commercial. > > The subsequent confusion and controversy surrounding his appearance was compounded by the fact that Rubin and Ed was not actually released until 1991; however, the movie had been in development since before Back to the Future — Crispin had actually already devised Rubin’s “look” by 1985.[9] Almost no-one, apparently including Letterman, understood what Glover was doing and the interview became the hallmark of the “weird” TV guest. From that, it sounds less like a meltdown than a publicity stunt that went badly due to the timing of the release of the show. The wiki makes it sound like Letterman didn’t know about the prank. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/22 "2012-05-03T22:47:43Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > I read about it a few years ago and basically they, or at least Barry, just got sick of Clive constantly making jokes about them and their music. He took it too far. > [Here’s Maurice Gibb talking about it](http://www.napathon.net/CliveAnderson.php) I saw it. Clive’s shtick is making funny little digs at people. In the right context this can be amusing - I much preferred him to Drew Carey as WLIIA host - but when you’re the host of a talk show mocking your guests is a dick move, and he was basically being a dick to the Bee Gees. It wasn’t a huge offense but they had no reason to stay there and put up with it. The show tanked soon after. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/23 "2012-05-03T22:51:19Z")
Funny thing was, he didn’t seem to mean any harm. He was just clueless about how annoying he was being. You can tell because after they walk out he has a, oh shit, what have I done, look on his face. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/24 "2012-05-04T00:07:05Z")
Come on, Clive has made a career of riding the line of obnoxiousness and insult. He knew what he was saying; he just was used to people taking it from him. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/25 "2012-05-04T01:12:43Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Crispin Glover was on David Letterman twice more (or maybe more?) after his stupid stunt, according to his Wikipedia entry. I don’t know if DL was in on it, though. Sure was: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aFePPdrRQdE/hqdefault.jpg "Crispin Glover on Letterman 1990") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFePPdrRQdE) ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/26 "2012-05-04T01:26:02Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Come on, Clive has made a career of riding the line of obnoxiousness and insult. He knew what he was saying; he just was used to people taking it from him. Well, being an American, I only really saw him on Whose Line, so I’ll take your word for it. But even him knowing he’s annoying the look on his face was still one of shock, embarrassment, and sadness as he was begging Maurice to stay. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/27 "2012-05-04T06:04:39Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > I just watched the clip and looked up Crispin Glover on wiki. Here’s what [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispin_Glover) had to say about it. > > From that, it sounds less like a meltdown than a publicity stunt that went badly due to the timing of the release of the show. The wiki makes it sound like Letterman didn’t know about the prank. Even knowing it’s an act, I wouldn’t want someone kicking that close to my face, and would want to get out. Plus, it’s not as if Glover has come off as sane in other contexts. The thing about the meltdown story is that it’s believable based on his current reclusivity. I personally think he must have had some sort of breakdown, even if this was not actually it. Then again, I also think Cruise’s jumping on the couch was a stunt, too. It was intended to make him seem “crazy in love” with Homes, and fight off the gay rumors. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/28 "2012-05-04T06:06:22Z")
Glover’s ego also got him written out of the BTTF sequels. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/29 "2012-05-04T07:49:14Z")
My favorite meltdown was Steve-o’s on that show Adam Carolla had for a bit. If I remember correctly, Steve-o was really, really drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/30 "2012-05-04T07:59:34Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Well, being an American, I only really saw him on Whose Line, so I’ll take your word for it. But even him knowing he’s annoying the look on his face was still one of shock, embarrassment, and sadness as he was begging Maurice to stay. The weird thing, and the thing which must have seemed particularly confusing to Clive, is that the particular line that sent Barry over the edge was rather innocuous. The song “Don’t Forget to Remember” is mentioned and Clive jokes “I’ve forgotten that one.” Just a play on the title, rather than a dig at the band, as such… Still, I suppose it was the last straw; Barry seems to have been brooding throughout about the “tossers” thing from the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/31 "2012-05-04T08:40:06Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Didn’t Clive Anderson host a travel program in the early 1990s in which he went around the world being rude to people? I think you might be thinking of Clive James - he certainly did that type of programme in the early 90s. ---
**Author:** ![glaeken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@glaeken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaeken)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/32 "2012-05-04T08:51:17Z")
I remember watching the Clive Anderson Bee Gees interview when it was first broadcast and I knew that Barry was getting pretty upset at Clive’s comments. It’s actually all about his body language. Watch that leg twitch away. It was still a surprise when he decided to walk but I found the whole interview had an uneasy vibe about it. Another very awkward interview from UK TV was Frank Skinner and interviewing Matthew Kelly. I am not sure if either of those will known outside of the UK though. Matthew Kelly had been charged with paedophilia types charges that he was cleared of but decided to bring up the fact that Frank Skinner had made a joke about these charges during a stand-up act while he was being interviewed by Skinner. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/X0Vxi1qo9yA/hqdefault.jpg "Kelly & Skinner (VOLUME ADJUST)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0Vxi1qo9yA) ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/33 "2012-05-04T12:30:37Z")
> [@glaeken](#): > > I remember watching the Clive Anderson Bee Gees interview when it was first broadcast and I knew that Barry was getting pretty upset at Clive’s comments. It’s actually all about his body language. Watch that leg twitch away. It was still a surprise when he decided to walk but I found the whole interview had an uneasy vibe about it. They’re the fucking Bee Gees. When you are the poster band for a musical movement that has become a joke, you either stop taking yourselves so seriously and learn to laugh at yourselves or you end up like that. Maurice didn’t get all pissy over a few throw away lines in an otherwise positive interview (he talked about their early music, the breakup, and more than just their gold flame jacket period), probably because he’s not taking himself too seriously. Maybe it was just a bad day, but Barry needs to learn to laugh at himself. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/34 "2012-05-04T12:32:25Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Crispin was a good friend of mine when we were teens. I assure you that he was playing a character. Letterman wasn’t in on the joke but it was a joke. Letterman certainly wasn’t in on it. > [@hajario](#): > > Sorry. I meant to say that Letterman might not have been in on the joke. I have no idea. > [@Paranoid\_Randroid](#): > > I honestly don’t doubt it was a joke, as the silliness was too extreme (IMO) to make a real breakdown or drug trip near as likely. But as a joke it fairly well bombed; getting himself more or less kicked off the show just made him look like a doofus. And if he was genuinely going for Kaufman-esque audience-confusion-as-art then he doesn’t appear to have had the constitution to keep going with it. Not only did it bomb. It helped to torpedo his career. Along with weird behavior on the set. ---
**Author:** ![glaeken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@glaeken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaeken)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/35 "2012-05-04T12:54:42Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > They’re the fucking Bee Gees. When you are the poster band for a musical movement that has become a joke, you either stop taking yourselves so seriously and learn to laugh at yourselves or you end up like that. Maurice didn’t get all pissy over a few throw away lines in an otherwise positive interview (he talked about their early music, the breakup, and more than just their gold flame jacket period), probably because he’s not taking himself too seriously. Maybe it was just a bad day, but Barry needs to learn to laugh at himself. I was on Andersen’s side. Barry Gibb took himself far too seriously. I would imagine he just had not come across someone who did not fawn all over him recently when he did that interview. He seemed to have no idea that some might not take the Bee Gees seriously. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/36 "2012-05-04T13:45:41Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Glover’s ego also got him written out of the BTTF sequels. He just wanted the same money as Fox and they didn’t want to pay him. The film makers got another actor and gave him a fake nose and chin to make him look like Crispin. Crispin sued because he thought that he should have been paid since they used his likeness. He won and in doing so made new law so now other actors can’t be ripped off that way. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/37 "2012-05-04T13:54:31Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Glover’s ego also got him written out of the BTTF sequels. It wasn’t “ego.” It was a contract dispute. And if he had been “written out” that would have been one thing. What the studio decided to do instead was to get someone to impersonate him. In other words, have him in the movie without paying him. _I’ve been beat to it, I see. Serves me right for not refreshing._ ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/38 "2012-05-04T14:02:20Z")
Sort of off topic but is the Andersen/Bee Gees incident the inspiration for the SNL skit “The Barry Gibb Talk Show”? I never understood where the heck they came up with that idea. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/39 "2012-05-04T16:41:40Z")
Thanks for the Glover clarification. “Written out” is obviously not what I should’ve said. “Recast” was the right word. BTW, it was “ego” that made him think he was as important as Fox to the movie. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/40 "2012-05-04T16:44:54Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Thanks for the Glover clarification. “Written out” is obviously not what I should’ve said. “Recast” was the right word. BTW, it was “ego” that made him think he was as important as Fox to the movie. If he was so unimportant, why did they go through the trouble of making prosthetics to make the other actor look like him? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743.md?page=3)