That one’s from Tracy Ullman. She always cracks me up on talk shows.
The great Jack Benny was asked once by a fledgling Merv Griffin (this was mid-60s or so) if he could remember the very first line he spoke on stage. Benny, who started in vaudeville at age 4 or so, simply stared at Griffin blankly for what seemed like 20 minutes, after which he barked, “That’s the stupidest question I’ve ever heard in my life!”
David Letterman interviewing a drunken and beligerent Sam Phillips, early 80s or so. At one point, Phillips leans over and growls “What the hell are you tryin’ to say?” Letterman responds “Well, I’m just trying to think of a real nice way to say goodbye, Sam,” and immediately tosses to a commercial. Phillips, of course, was gone when the show resumed.
A British literary critic was asked about Kitty Kelly’s biography of Nancy Reagan. Her reply;
“One meritricious bitch talking about another.”
About 10 years or so ago, on “Crossfire,” David Duke was the guest on the grill. Michael Kinsley was hitting Duke pretty hard with the questions, and Duke finally had had enough. He turned to Kinsley with a scowl and said “Why, you miserable little worm!”
You probably had to be there, but I bust a gut. I’d been waiting for someone to call down Kinsley, and “miserable little worm” is by far the best description I’ve ever heard.
“Did you threaten to overrule him?”
Jeremy Paxman to Michael Howard, 14 times in the same interview.
I can only think of one offhand. Some Spin magazine " journalist " was interviewing Kim Thayil of Soundgarden ( early 90’s ), where she asked,
" If murder were legal, who would you kill ? "
to which he replied:
" That’s fucking stupid! Just because murder was legal doesn’t mean I’d kill anyone! "