# Most uncomfortable talk show moments **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 24, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840 "2004-10-24T01:50:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/101 "2004-10-25T15:48:53Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > And when they asked Grant about some of his former leading ladies, he was less than generous. The best he could say about Sandra Bullock was that she was “silly.” He said that Julianne Moore probably hated him. The funniest was Julia Roberts. Oprah said, “Tell us about Julia.” Grant said, “She has a HUGE mouth.” Oprah, looking confused, “You mean she talks a lot?” Grant replies, “No, I mean her mouth is literally very big. Like a horse. We were doing a scene where we kissed and I swear I could hear an echo.” Everyone was kind of shocked at his comments, but Oprah kind of laughed it off eventually and they moved on to other things. I think that Hugh Grant is just extremely uncomfortable being interviewed, and not very good with being put on the spot. I thought it was hilarious when he said that about Julia, because it’s what people think about her anyway. Oprah said something about her having the “most beautiful smile” blah blah, and I totally disagree with that and obviously so does Hugh. Haha, he could hear an echo, I bet he did. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/102 "2004-10-25T16:04:56Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Madonna seemed obviously angry to me. Courtney started mouthing off down below the platform where the interview was being conducted. Kurt Loder said something like “Let’s bring her up here.” and Madonna said “Let’s not,” or something along those lines. Then Madonna sat in icy silence while Courtney hijacked the interview. Well, at least she was smiling. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/103 "2004-10-25T22:53:40Z")
None of these examples come even close to something that happened over here on British TV. It was an ‘uncomfortable’ talk show moment, but also a brilliant one that has been talked about ever since. \*\*Frank Skinner \*\* is a very successful UK comedian who has had his own laid-back, informal talk show for several years. He is known for his near-the-knuckle, rather ‘chancey’ comedy. He also does other TV shows from time to time, including a live show with comedy partner David Baddiel in which they simply field questions from a studio audience about anything and nothing. On one of these live, unscripted shows with Baddiel, Skinner made some jokes about **Matthew Kelly** , an actor and TV presenter, who at the time was facing charges of having paedophile pornography on his computer. After an investigation, the charges were dropped, no evidence was presented (Kelly doesn’t even _have_ a computer) and Kelly is now considered entirely innocent. Kelly also handled the whole traumatic business with great dignity. Kelly is known chiefly for rather lightweight, comedic roles as either an actor or presenter, but not long ago was starring in a West End play in a completely straight role. He was booked on to the Skinner chat show to hype it. After the interview was over and they had stopped taping, Kelly confronted Skinner about the jokes he (Skinner) had made at the time of this criminal investigation. Bravely, Skinner suggested that if they were going to talk about it at all, they should do so with the cameras rolling, so they re-started taping - and all of this exchange was subsequently broadcast. Kelly, though usually seen on TV in a very happy, smiling, cheery sort of persona, was deadly serious and sounded faintly menacing. He’s a big guy, at least a foot taller than Skinner. He put it to Skinner that the jokes he had made were unfunny, cruel and unfair, especially in light of the fact that all the charges were unfounded, and that it was irresponsible of him to have made those jokes on TV. Skinner defended himself as best he could, arguing that he was a comedian who did jokes about whatever was topical. Kelly asked him if he wasn’t ashamed of what he’d said. Skinner said he could understand why he, Kelly, was offended, but said no, he wasn’t ashamed. Kelly asked if he would care to repeat the same gags again now that he (Kelly) was present. This was an amzing moment to watch - no-one knew how Skinner would respond, or just how angry/menacing Kelly was feeling. More than once, Kelly invited (or dared?) Skinner to repeat the jokes. Skinner decided he would do so, and repeated the gags in question. He raised no laughs whatsoever. Kelly repeated his point that the ‘jokes’ weren’t funny, they were just cruel to him and his family. Skinner pointed out that obviously no-one was going to laugh _now_ because it was old news and Kelly was there, which made a difference. Eventually, they both had their say and left it at that. Kelly pointed out that it was cruel and unfair to make jokes about people who might turn out to be entirely innocent (because the jokes linger for a long time), and Skinner said it was his job to make jokes about whatever was in the news that people were talking about, and it had seemed harmless at the time during a live, unscripted show. The ended on a note of uneasy truce. It was _electrifying_ television. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/104 "2004-10-25T23:05:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by spoke- > Madonna seemed obviously angry to me. Courtney started mouthing off down below the platform where the interview was being conducted. Kurt Loder said something like “Let’s bring her up here.” and Madonna said “Let’s not,” or something along those lines. Then Madonna sat in icy silence while Courtney hijacked the interview. > [@kung fu lola](#): > > Well, at least she was smiling. She wasn’t entirely silent. When Love mentioned something about it would be great to marry a doctor, Madonna remarked, “Then you’d have access to all those drugs.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/105 "2004-10-25T23:51:05Z")
There was a female actor on The Conan O’Brien show several years ago. Can’t remember if Andy was still on the show at the time. But her and conan got really snippy at each other. From what I could recall of the dialoue, it vaguely something like this: Conan: Why would you choose to be on So-and-So show? It sucks." Female Guest: What kinda like your show? Vague, I know, but I don’t have the best of memories. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/106 "2004-10-26T00:32:01Z")
What, third page and no-one has mentioned George W. Bush’s 2000 appearance on _The Late Show_? “About time you had the heart to invite me.” “[Being a uniter, not a divider] means when the time comes to sew up your chest cavity, we use stitches instead of opening it up.” Eesh. Maybe he can reuse those beauties now that Clinton’s had his bypass. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/107 "2004-10-26T00:53:30Z")
> [@kung fu lola](#): > > Actually, La M was very gracious. She was very composed and seemed bemused by the whole thing. Her publicist, however, could be seen milling worriedly around the perimeter, probably begging anyone to who had the ability and inclination to end the segment gracefully, to do so. In a subsequent interview, Madonna said; “I am fascinated by Courtney Love the same way I am fascinated by someone with Tourette’s Syndrome.” It looked to me as if Madonna was desparately trying to hold back hysterical giggles. Courtney just made such an ASS of herself, she was obviously higher than a fucking kite. The whole thing was surreal. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/108 "2004-10-26T01:22:23Z")
Does anyone remember the incident between former Rams/Saints quarterback Jim Everett and Jim Rome on ESPN? Rome kept calling Everett “Chris” (a deliberate refernce to Chris Evert) during the interview. Everett got more and more pissed and finally made some sort of threat like, “I dare you to call me that one more time.” Rome said “Chris” and Everett got up and physically attacked Rome on stage- cut to commercial. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/109 "2004-10-26T03:27:02Z")
I remember once on Politically Incorrect, Sandra Bernhart was one of the guests, I don’t remember who two of the others were, but the third was an ultra-conservative who wouldn’t let anyone else speak. The topic was about classes in society and he wouldn’t talk about it. He just kept interrupting everyone and saying “That doesn’t matter, only God matters” and when Bill got mad at him, he said, “Oh, I thought anyone could say whatever they wanted on your show.” Ok, now awkward moments maybe a staple for Jerry Springer, but one stands out in my mind because it was the only time I’ve seen Jerry upset. The topic was people who are training their children for violence. They had on a KKK member who was convinced a racial war was coming and was training his kids to kill blacks. What was funny was that he talked midwestern normally but when someone said something negative towards him, he would get this thick southern accent and talk about God smiting the wicked. Jerry kept making fun of him about it. Anyway, another guest was a member of the American Nazi party who kept telling Jerry “I got your mother in my trunk”. This finally pissed Jerry off and he started yelling at the guy. They cut to commercial and Jerry apologized for his outburst when they returned. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/110 "2004-10-26T03:32:26Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Does anyone remember the incident between former Rams/Saints quarterback Jim Everett and Jim Rome on ESPN? > > Rome kept calling Everett “Chris” (a deliberate refernce to Chris Evert) during the interview. Everett got more and more pissed and finally made some sort of threat like, “I dare you to call me that one more time.” > > Rome said “Chris” and Everett got up and physically attacked Rome on stage- cut to commercial. Although the rumour is that this was an Andy Kaufman/Jerry Lawler kind of incident. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/111 "2004-10-26T03:41:06Z")
Looked pretty convincing to me. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/112 "2004-10-26T03:42:35Z")
Jim Rome has always denied that it was staged. ---
**Author:** ![don\_Jaime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/113 "2004-10-26T03:46:10Z")
I never got to see Geraldo get the chair lobbed at him, but I did get to see what was supposed to be a fluffy episode about former child stars. He had a boy and a girl from “Eight is Enough”, Spanky MacFarland, and Kitten and Bud from “Father Knows Best.” Geraldo clearly hadn’t done his homework. He asked MacFarland “Whatever happened to Alfalfa, anyway?”, not anticipating a straight recounting of Alfalfa’s miserable later life and death. Bud was unstable and freaked out midway through, screaming about the joys of athiesm. Desperate to save the show, Geraldo asked the Eight is Enough girl about the vague story he had heard about her making a film in Korea. Turned out she had been drugged and raped, and tapes of it were now being distributed across Asia, and boy was she ever pissed that Geraldo even mentioned this. For an encore, Geraldo brought up “20/20”'s mistaken story about Buckwheat sacking groceries some ten years after he died, and managed to tick Spanky off too. Another drunk moment: Truman Capote on a local New York show. I’ve never seen anyone that blitzed. Worse, the smarmy host started baiting Capote. Then there are the fun shows where the lone guest never shows. Joan Rivers was going to devote a full hour of her daytime show to Sam Kinison, and he never came. She opened by throwing her compact and breaking, and spent the hour alternating bitching and idolizing Kinison. “The Daily Show” had Al Sharpton fail to appear, so Stephen Colbert appeared as Sharpton and gave a delightfully vicious send up. Amazingly, Kinison and Sharpton did “make-up” shows later, and were brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/114 "2004-10-26T03:54:32Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Jim Rome has always denied that it was staged. Of course he would. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/115 "2004-10-26T05:22:35Z")
A Letterman show with Mel Gibson. Letterman opened the show with the schtik that he and Paul would cut off their pants, making them into shorts. Gibson came out and they decided to cut of his pants too, only his were tight black jeans. Paul not only cut off Mel’s pants but also (Get your mind out of the gutter) sliced open his thigh and Mel had a trickle of blood down his leg. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/116 "2004-10-26T05:57:52Z")
In professional skeptic Michael Shermer’s book _Why People Believe Weird Things_ in which he describes his experience debating Holocaust deniers on _Donahue_. You loathe Donahue by the time you finish the chapter. Because Donahue was too interested in posturing and letting it be known that he thought the Holocaust happened and was bad (a brave stand) to allow anybody else to talk and was more interested in ad-hom trashing of the deniers, Shermer states point blank that technically the deniers won the debate. Among other things Donahue kept making comments about the Nazi use of fat from dead Jews to make soap which one of the deniers debunked. While the cannibal soapmaking may have happened it has never been _proven_ to have happened and when Donahue asked Shermer to back him up on the claim Shermer, who is 100% convinced of the validity of the Holocaust, had the integrity to state that the soap claim is not proven. Donahue became furious and during commercial break had one of his assistants yell at Shermer for betraying him. A general fustercluck of a show. Donahue was given a short-lived show on some cable news network last year and not having seen him in more than a decade I remembered watching a few minutes from one show of just how much I didn’t miss him. He combines the worst aspects of liberalism and narcissism (though at least he dresses better than Michael Moore). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/117 "2004-10-26T06:02:23Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Donahue was given a short-lived show on some cable news network last year and not having seen him in more than a decade I remembered watching a few minutes from one show of just how much I didn’t miss him. He combines the worst aspects of liberalism and narcissism (though at least he dresses better than Michael Moore). That was on MSNBC, so nobody was going to watch anyway. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/118 "2004-10-26T06:07:57Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Donahue combines the worst aspects of liberalism and narcissism (though at least he dresses better than Michael Moore). Moore’s dress sense is his one redeeming feature. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/119 "2004-10-26T06:15:32Z")
On an MTV special, original VJ Mark Goodman played a clip from what he said was the only interview that he ever pulled the plug on. He was talking to the two lead guys from Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and they were incredibly disrespectful, barely acknowledging the questions and giggling to themselves like idiots. It’s one thing if the people you’re interviewing are hostile jerks who nonetheless answer your damn questions, it’s quite another if they won’t even give you anything to work with. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/120 "2004-10-26T06:34:37Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > Of course he would. [Here’s the clip on the left](http://www.moderntv.com/modtvweb/qtclips/violence.htm#viewmov2). looks real to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840.md?page=7)