# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/161 "2004-10-29T16:11:43Z")
Two moments to share. First one was when I was really young and Paul Lindh was being interviewed on somebody’s daytime show. Might have been Donahue. What I remember was some woman in the audience standing up to ask him if he’d had a “liquid breakfast” (“Mommy? What’s a ‘liquid breakfast’”) and him indicating an affirmative. It was pretty clear everyone was angry and disappointed in him. The other one is I swear we were watching the night Carson decided to hang it up. Bill Cosby was the guest, with Morrissey performing. The audience was full of teenyboppers who kept shouting “Morrissey!” at every opportunity. It was pretty clear they didn’t want to see Cosby, which was a shame b/c he doesn’t make many appearances and Carson was clearly delighted to have him there and royally pissed at the audience for misbehaving. Cosby was a trooper, he gave up and went with it and tried to get Carson to calm down. It wasn’t long after that when Carson announced his retirement. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/162 "2004-10-29T17:36:07Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > …The audience laughed (uncomfortably) as Chase sat there and took it, then as Ebert’s back was turned away from him he began doing the same silent mouthing he used to do on Weekend Update and the crowd went wild. Ebert had no idea why as everytime he turned around Chase stopped. When Ebert finished, Chase made a polite “quip” that was one of the best “f\*ck you’s” in talk show history and perhaps the funniest moments in Chase’s (admittedly disintegrated) career: > > “So Roger… tell us about your next movie.” That sounds so incredibly staged. Funny, but staged, because, 1. Johnny wouldn’t have put Chevy on the spot like that. 2. Everybody in show biz already knew that Ebert regular trashed (deservedly) Chevy’s movies (most of them spectacular flops). 3. There are monitors everwhere in a studio taping of a talk show, Ebert could have easily seen Chevy mugging. 4. This whole thing was a set up for Chevy to do the only funny thing that was his trademark. 5. Ebert has a sense of humor and has played along with other injoke jokes in other venues. He does feel sorry for trashing people he knows are good people or have some capability of doing well given the right situation; and so, this was a bone he threw Chevy’s way. Peace. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/163 "2004-10-29T18:06:42Z")
> [@Beadalin](#): > > IOr how 'bout Bush _polishing his glasses_ on the sweater Dave’s assistant was wearing? While she was wearing it, as she was talking to Dave at his desk during commercial? God bless _The Late Show_ for broadcasting that later, and several times over. That was too funny. Because it’s so topical: [link](http://idflux.typepad.com/idflux/2004/01/bush_uses_a_wom.html) I personally loved Jon Stewart’s interview of a couple of Spice Girls. They absolutely didn’t get his humor, and said so. He kept needling them, and they got more and more annoyed. Beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Sweetums](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Sweetums](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweetums)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/164 "2004-10-29T20:26:35Z")
Letterman seems to be the king of attracting stoned or drunk guests. In addition to the Courtney Love and Farrah Fawcett ones mentioned I remember, a few disasters from the 80s. Nastassja Kinski, who came on with her hair piled on top of her head like a rat’s nest, and quite zonked out of her mind. ``` Billy Idol, who by all acounts wasn't that bright when he was sober, also showed up in an altered state. Watching him struggle to finish sentences, and then break into his tradmark sneer when he would loose his train of thought (often), was better than a dozen "just say no to drugs" ads. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/165 "2004-10-29T20:31:09Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > The other one is I swear we were watching the night Carson decided to hang it up. Bill Cosby was the guest, with Morrissey performing. The audience was full of teenyboppers who kept shouting “Morrissey!” at every opportunity. It was pretty clear they didn’t want to see Cosby, which was a shame b/c he doesn’t make many appearances and Carson was clearly delighted to have him there and royally pissed at the audience for misbehaving. Cosby was a trooper, he gave up and went with it and tried to get Carson to calm down. It wasn’t long after that when Carson announced his retirement. He wouldn’t do that now. The last few times I’ve seen him interviewed he’s been grumpier than George Carlin but nowhere near as funny. Perhaps it’s the death of his son or perhaps frustration with today’s youth, but he’s become almost as uncomfortable a guest to have as Jerry Lewis. (Hijack, but- does anybody know why he has taken to wearing sunglasses all the time? Does he have an eye problem?) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/166 "2004-10-29T20:34:45Z")
Speaking of Ebert, one uncomfortable moment with him that was definitely not staged was when he became furious with Gene Siskel. I believe this was on ARSENIO; they were discussing movies then at the box office, one of which was the Douglas/Turner movie _War of the Roses_. Siskel revealed the twist ending that Turner and Douglas both die in a chandelier accident while trying to kill each other and Ebert was livid. (He had previously become furious and tried to have the video edited or pulled when Siskel gave away the twist to _The Crying Game_ , the twist being that Jaye Davidson’s character is actually black and English. And something about a penis. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/167 "2004-10-29T20:38:13Z")
Uh… Mod Squad, darlings- could you be dears and fix that spoiler tag above. That’d be great :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/168 "2004-10-29T21:18:20Z")
> [@Sweetums](#): > > ``` > Billy Idol, who by all acounts wasn't that bright when he was sober, also showed up in an altered state. Watching him struggle to finish sentences, and then break into his tradmark sneer when he would loose his train of thought (often), was better than a dozen "just say no to drugs" ads. > > ``` He really sent Dave for a loop when he talked about an incident that took place after a conccert. Seems fans found out which hotle Idol was staying. They were shouting for him to come out on the balcony. He did so. Naked. He revealed to Dave that he hung his dick out over the edge of the balcony. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/169 "2004-10-29T21:20:09Z")
I can’t believe this thread has gone so far without anyone ever mentioning Bette Davis’ legendary moment on “the Tonight Show.” It was the day after Joan Crawford died. Of course, Davis & Crawford had been bitter enemies since at least “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?”, so Carson couldn’t resist asking what she thought of the passing. Bette Davis: “My mama told me to say nothing but good about the dead. Well, now she’s dead. GOOD!” The book “Gotta Revolution” (about the history of Jefferson Airplane/Starship/etc.) recounts the time the band appeared on Carson’s show to perform their bit hig of the day “White Rabbit.” Some fool set designer figured Grace Slick should be riding a stuffed rocking horse while lipsyncing the song. (Yes, Ashlee Simpson was no where NEAR the first to do this!) And Carson apparently made the mistake of snidely putting down the band’s music before they were set to go on. Anyway, just as they were about to appear (on live tv!), Grace turns the horse around, so that it’s rear end was facing the audience. Halfway during the lipsync, she abruptly stopped ‘singing’ and started thrusting her mic into the horse’s ‘bottom’ over & over again. (The tape for that night was, unsurprisingly, not saved. I don’t believe they ever came back to the show either.) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/170 "2004-10-29T21:50:07Z")
> [@Sweetums](#): > > Nastassja Kinski, who came on with her hair piled on top of her head like a rat’s nest, and quite zonked out of her mind. I saw that show in 1983, and although she was indeed wearing that odd hair-don’t, nothing in her speech or demeanor suggested she was “zonked out of her mind”. She was no doubt put off by Dave’s ridicule of her appearance, followed by his inappropriate laughter at a film clip from her latest movie, _Exposed_ (a romantic scene, not comic). ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/171 "2004-10-29T22:31:08Z")
> [@Art Vandelay](#): > > (The tape for that night was, unsurprisingly, not saved. I don’t believe they ever came back to the show either.) Your inference is wrong. Any videotapes of _The Tonight Show_ from the 1960s (and _White Rabbit_ was a 1967 hit) are rare, as NBC routinely erased and reused the expensive 2-inch tapes back then. Not until 1971 and the advent of the [U-matic](http://www.sony.net/Fun/SH/1-13/h3.html) VCR were tapes of the show routinely saved. But you may be right that the band did not appear again on _The Tonight Show_ during Carson’s tenure, at least according to the [official guest database](http://www.johnnycarson.com/carson/search/index.jsp), which is complete from 1971 onward. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/172 "2004-10-29T22:39:54Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > the twist being that Jaye Davidson’s character > > is actually black and English. And something about a penis. Jaye Davidson has a penis??? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/173 "2004-10-29T22:43:16Z")
Just to clarify, I did know that the Tonight Show did not routinely preserve tapes from this time period, but they DID hold onto occasional tapes that they considered memorable and possibly worth rescreening at a future date. There is, for example, footage of Jack Paar’s famous moment when he quit his hosting gig midshow and stalked off the set midshow (ASIDE: Was _this_ mentioned already? If not, it REALLY should have been!) What I meant was that Carson & the producers didn’t want to keep it taped, and hence it can’t be seen again (like Bette Davis’ catty remark!), only read about. I didn’t mean to imply that Carson erased this specific episode out of spite for the band. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/174 "2004-10-29T23:39:00Z")
> [@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. I have that video on my computer. My regret about that scene is that Everett only pushed down Rome. Rome was being an incredible smug jackass. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/175 "2004-10-30T00:47:25Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > Two moments to share. > > First one was when I was really young and Paul Lindh was being interviewed on somebody’s daytime show. Might have been Donahue. What I remember was some woman in the audience standing up to ask him if he’d had a “liquid breakfast” (“Mommy? What’s a ‘liquid breakfast’”) and him indicating an affirmative. It was pretty clear everyone was angry and disappointed in him. …er… _whoooosh_ 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/176 "2004-10-30T00:56:03Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > …er… _whoooosh_ 😕 Booze. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/177 "2004-10-30T00:59:59Z")
…Ahhhhh, thankee. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/178 "2004-10-30T01:05:40Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > …Ahhhhh, thankee. 😉 My pleasure. Pretty name, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/179 "2004-10-30T01:07:39Z")
_blush_ Thanks! ---
**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 30, 2004, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840/180 "2004-10-30T01:09:56Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > I saw that show in 1983, and although she was indeed wearing that odd hair-don’t, nothing in her speech or demeanor suggested she was “zonked out of her mind”. She was no doubt put off by Dave’s ridicule of her appearance, followed by his inappropriate laughter at a film clip from her latest movie, _Exposed_ (a romantic scene, not comic). From what I remember, it wasn’t so much that Kinski’s speech or demeanor seemed “zonked” but rather she was completely oblivious to how her hair looked. It wasn’t until halfway through the interview, when she glanced at the monitor and saw that she looked like she just spent 24 hours in a wind tunnel, that she noticed anything was wrong. BTW, Letterman’s next guest on that show was John Candy who came out with his hair piled up on his head the same way as Kinski. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-uncomfortable-talk-show-moments/270840.md?page=10)