# 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:** 3
**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, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/41 "2012-05-04T16:47:51Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > BTW, it was “ego” that made him think he was as important as Fox to the movie. You have no way of knowing that. Just wanting as much money as Fox got doesn’t mean he “thought he was important as Fox to the movie.” It just means that that’s how much it was worth _to him_ in order to bother being in the movie. As to his importance, the fact that they got someone to impersonate him is kind of proof that he was important to the movie. Whether he was “as important as Fox” really is beside the point. They wanted to use his persona, his appearance, his mannerism … they wanted to use _him_, but they weren’t willing to pay what he asked. You don’t get to bypass that. Either you pay or you do without. ---
**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, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/42 "2012-05-04T17:16:49Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > You have no way of knowing that. > > Just wanting as much money as Fox got doesn’t mean he “thought he was important as Fox to the movie.” It just means that that’s how much it was worth _to him_ in order to bother being in the movie. > > As to his importance, the fact that they got someone to impersonate him is kind of proof that he was important to the movie. Whether he was “as important as Fox” really is beside the point. > > They wanted to use his persona, his appearance, his mannerism … they wanted to use _him_, but they weren’t willing to pay what he asked. You don’t get to bypass that. Either you pay or you do without. Yep. They could have written out the character. They could have pulled a “Darren Stevens” and got a similar looking actor to interpret the role his way. What they did was bullshit and the courts agreed. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/43 "2012-05-04T17:29:13Z")
> [@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. Wasn’t he the guy who coined the phrase “is there no beginning to your talents?” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/44 "2012-05-04T17:30:46Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > . . .What they did was bullshit and the courts agreed. Did they? According to [this](http://www.bttf.com/bttf-myths-and-misinformation-debunked-by-bob-gale.php) (yeah, hardly a neutral site), it was settled out of court. While it was a monetary victory, I don’t know that it could be called a legal victory–IF it was settled out of court. I have no inside knowledge on it, but a quick look at Google News Archives seems to support that. ---
**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, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/45 "2012-05-04T18:07:43Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Did they? According to [this](http://www.bttf.com/bttf-myths-and-misinformation-debunked-by-bob-gale.php) (yeah, hardly a neutral site), it was settled out of court. While it was a monetary victory, I don’t know that it could be called a legal victory–IF it was settled out of court. I have no inside knowledge on it, but a quick look at Google News Archives seems to support that. You’re right. My recollection was off. I believe that SAG rules were changed as a result and that no studio will pull crap like that again. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/46 "2012-05-04T19:01:29Z")
Yay [Jim Everett](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOVxitMy47c). ---
**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, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/47 "2012-05-04T19:20:39Z")
Although not as exciting as the previous example, there’s Jon Stewart on Crossfire. Of course he started the show pissed off to begin with, but I think this counts. ---
**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, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/48 "2012-05-04T19:28:27Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Although not as exciting as the previous example, there’s Jon Stewart on Crossfire. Of course he started the show pissed off to begin with, but I think this counts. \ “My lead in is puppets making crank phone calls!” \ ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/49 "2012-05-04T19:37:10Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Although not as exciting as the previous example, there’s Jon Stewart on Crossfire. Of course he started the show pissed off to begin with, but I think this counts. He won when he said, “The show leading into me is puppets making prank phones calls.” ---
**Author:** ![Headrush042](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Headrush042](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Headrush042)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/50 "2012-05-04T21:00:35Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > You’re right. My recollection was off. I believe that SAG rules were changed as a result and that no studio will pull crap like that again. Yep, it became a SAG rule precisely because of that lawsuit. According to Glover, they didn’t just offer him less than Fox. They offered him less than half of what any of the other returning actors were getting. So yeah, I wouldn’t call that egotistical, personally. ---
**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, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/51 "2012-05-04T21:10:42Z")
Obviously people change and I haven’t had any contact with Crispin since we were 18 but he wasn’t an egotistical kid at all. He was very humble, interesting and more than a little strange. His dad, Bruce, was a working character actor and that’s all the Crispin ever wanted to do at least since we met when we were maybe 14 years old. Bruce wouldn’t allow him to be a child actor or start his career until he was 16. I remember when he was in a McDonald’s commercial and one for a video game arcade. His “big break” was playing one of the kids in a version of The Sound of Music that toured California. I was so happy for him when he started appearing in movies. ---
**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, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/52 "2012-05-04T21:15:20Z")
Oh, I totally forgot that I saw him in his first ever acting appearance. He was the lead in his Jr. High’s version of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. ---
**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, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/53 "2012-05-04T21:52:04Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > He won when he said, “The show leading into me is puppets making prank phones calls.” Read the post directly above yours. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/54 "2012-05-04T22:33:55Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Didn’t Clive Anderson host a travel program in the early 1990s in which he went around the world being rude to people? You mean [Fightin’ Round The World](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-DblXaqQMk)? ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/55 "2012-05-04T22:50:37Z")
Not quite a total meltdown, but if you like extremely awkward, off-balance interviews, check out Diane Keaton’s recent appearance on The Colbert Report. She was on there ostensibly to promote a memoir, but spent the whole time half-insulting him, giggling, and rambling. I can only assume she was drunk, high, or incredibly sleep-deprived. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/56 "2012-05-05T06:03:57Z")
I opened this thread wondering if anyone had seen that interview. I like Diane Keaton. I like Stephen Colbert. I don’t know what the hell that was. Although I did enjoy when it moved past awkward into funny. I can only imagine she was high. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/57 "2012-05-05T06:13:02Z")
This is old, but Flip Wilson destroyed Johnny Carson’s desk. Didn’t go over very well. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/58 "2012-05-05T13:55:12Z")
> [@Queen\_Tonya](#): > > I opened this thread wondering if anyone had seen that interview. I like Diane Keaton. I like Stephen Colbert. I don’t know what the hell that was. > > Although I did enjoy when it moved past awkward into funny. I can only imagine she was high. Yeah, I watched that episode last night and this thread came to mind immediately. One thing to remember is that Diane Keaton is _extremely_ tense during interviews. She tilts her head down, talks about how nervous she is, etc. Usually a withdrawn guest. Seeing her gush like that at the start made my “She’s on something!” lights flash. Then it just got worse and worse. Way too many happy pills. Colbert couldn’t get her to say _anything_ about the content of her book. I think she was too wasted to remember what was in it. Link: [Comedy Central Shows & Movies - Watch on Paramount+](http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/413409/april-30-2012/diane-keaton) ---
**Author:** ![Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashley_Pomeroy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/59 "2012-05-05T17:48:55Z")
Although it wasn’t a meltdown - more a kind of slow, awkward fumble - top bluff Yorkshire chat show host Michael Parkinson had an [infamously disastrous interview](http://www.upstart.net.au/2011/10/06/50-interviews-just-wrap-it-up/) with Meg Ryan a few years back: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/blpq-Iwu25s/hqdefault.jpg "Meg Ryan interview - Parkinson - BBC") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blpq-Iwu25s) It’s an interesting clash of approaches. In the UK Parkinson was, at the time, a kind of television legend going way back, but from Meg Ryan’s point of view he was probably a fungus. They really didn’t get on and I’d love to see them trapped in an elevator together. I’ve always wondered how Hollywood stars feel when they’re interviewed on British television. It must be like Captain Kirk being asked to address a planet where the dominant species resemble tiny furry slugs. He has to pretend to treat them with respect, as if they were people - with kings and warriors and a history and so forth - but they’re just furry slugs. As mentioned before, [Oliver Reed](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boeX9KtSvUA). This kind of thing happened [again and again](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Reed#Alcoholism), to such an extent that it wasn’t funny as a spectacle, and (assuming it was a big put-on) it wasn’t funny as _comedy_. I will always remember him as the man who made it hard and ultimately impossible to sustain an erection whilst watching Amanda Donahoe cavort around nude in _Castaway_, the 1986 Nicolas Roeg film. Now, I remember watching a piece of breakfast telly several years ago with Derek Jameson, former editor of recently-scrapped Sunday tabloid _The News of the World_ and (at the time) television personality. It was about the media coverage of Princess Diana, and he was making a quite reasonable but blunt point that she sold newspapers, and that breakfast TV was as obsessed with her as anybody, and that her death had sold lots of papers as well. Eventually this turned into a heated argument and they cut to an advert break, obviously before things go nasty. I seem to be the only person who remembers this. It was striking because Jameson was off-script but _right_, and it was an odd intrusion of reality into the fake environment of breakfast TV. ---
**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 5, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743/60 "2012-05-05T18:10:45Z")
> [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](#): > > I’ve always wondered how Hollywood stars feel when they’re interviewed on British television. It must be like Captain Kirk being asked to address a planet where the dominant species resemble tiny furry slugs. He has to pretend to treat them with respect, as if they were people - with kings and warriors and a history and so forth - but they’re just furry slugs. I don’t see this as an American-British thing. Watching that clip, Parkinson’s style of question doesn’t seem all that different from “serious” American interviewers like Terry Gross, James Lipton, Charlie Rose, or even Dick Cavett. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jimmy-fallon-ever-had-a-guest-meltdown/620743.md?page=4)