I rarely if ever watch Kathy Lee Giffords and Hoda Kotb’s section of The Today Show (really, I don’t- I have lots of low brow interests, they just aren’t one) but happened to see it while flipping channels and watched because I like Martin Short. I like him even more now. Full segment video.
The short version: He was on to promote Madagascar 3, conversation led to his kids, and then to his wife. From here:
I’m a Martin Short fan but hardly a fanatic, and even I knew his wife is dead. Don’t talk show hosts do any kind of prep on their guests? (Well, the not late and unlamented Larry King prided himself on not doing any, but I assumed most did.) A little dossier that mentions guest’s projects, current work, something about their personal life- I mean, this isn’t a hobby, they’re getting paid a LOT of money for this show.
But, whatever, it was an honest (if stupid) mistake, but what a class act Shore is. Total professional- he didn’t want to mess up the upbeat fast-moving flow by mentioning it, and in afterwards statements when asked he stated that he wasn’t offended, she didn’t know, etc… I suppose this coming in an election year where if it were a candidate’s wife there’d be outrage and milking it for all it was worth it’s really refreshing.
Anyway, I thought it was a total class move all around on Short’s part. That’s all. Thread can go away now.
I’m reluctant to point it out, but Martin Short is Canadian, and there are some cultural differences between Canadians and Americans.
We, in Canada, don’t consider the spouses of politicians as part of the media circus, and by extension don’t consider spouses of celebrities as part of the media circus.
I’m not pointing fingers or anything, but this is the way it is. For example, our political leaders’ spouses are relatively unknown to us; even the Prime Minister’s wife.
The part that stood out to me (besides what a decent guy Martin Short so clearly is) was how that shrill, vile bitch Kathie Lee Gifford had to act like she is SO close with the Short family (pathetically wanting to appear to know them intimately by telling her idiot viewers that she has special insight into their personal lives and the state of their marriage) when she clearly hasn’t spoken to them (or even read about them in a Goddam newspaper) for the past couple of years.
I have never heard anyone who is acquainted with Kathy Lee Gifford say a single positive thing about her.
Point taken. The problem isn’t that Gifford didn’t know, but that she didn’t bother to check. It’s one thing to run into an acquaintance, ask after their family, and be given bad news. But if you’re going to discuss a spouse on TV, wouldn’t you doublecheck that they’re still married, that the spouse is in good health, etc.?
You fools! Kathie Lee was secretly auditioning to work with him the next time he pulls his Jiminy Glick character out of mothballs. Glick is a terrible interviewer, and she wanted to prove, up close, that she was cut from the same cloth.
Dude, I don’t think this was cultural. I think she was just trying to be nice. She could have easily been a Canadian(or any other nationality) and made the same mistake. She obviously didn’t pre-plan the question or her interview helpers would have pointed out her ignorance. It was a compliment about his life and was just a mistake.
I’m no Kathy-Lee fan, but I kind of feel bad for her in this case. I could totally see myself making a fool of myself like that.
Thinking about it, Craig Ferguson (who I consider a very good interviewer) always tears up the research cards when his guests come on - I don’t know if he has read them first or been briefed, but he might make the same mistake.
It’s not as bad as when Kathy Lee interviewed Robert Wagner last month: “So your marriage to Natalie is still going swimmingly–how do you two keep your relationship afloat?”
I think we’ve all asked a friend (or even a relative) we haven’t seen in a while “How’s ____?” only to hear a sentence that begins with “Oh, I guess you haven’t heard…” and ends with “…the lab said at least part of it was him” or whatever, BUT, we’re not (for the most part) public figures who could literally be wiki’d two minutes before walking onstage. I mean, she knew his youngest child just graduated college, how did they not vet her on “his wife is dead”?
Almost makes me wonder if some assistant who hates her (and had another job lined up) said “Be sure to ask him about his wife, Nancy! And don’t let it drop! Ask if he has any recent pictures of her!”
I just figured she was so tossed to the gills that she had no idea what year it was, let alone who was dead or alive. I think that segment is sponsored by Ernest and Julio Gallo and they insist on live product placement…
Kathy Lee used to have her own brand of wine flavored with the tears of children in her sweatshops. Unfortunately the flack after that Dateline exposee hurt sales.
