Letterman played Bill Hicks ' banned clip from '94 apologized to Bill's mom

[Ken Burch]

AND admitted he no longer knew why he got so freaked out about the routine in the first place.

While you could tell she'd been upset about the censorship in the first place, she seemed to forgive him for it.

And the talk Letterman had with Hicks' mom was probably the best interview he's done in awhile.


It was a nice moment.



Dave set an example for all public figures with this act. It takes a truly strong person to apologize and admit error. Others could learn from this.

[sandnsea]

1. It was a nice show

I can see why he didn't show it, people didn't really find hunting people down very funny and Billy Rae Cyrus and Michael Bolton were really popular so the humor wouldn't have translated the way it is now. I think Sam Kennison was the only one doing the Jesus coming back type jokes too, and he was very controversial. Now it's nothing. But it was nice that he took total responsibility to heal any bad feelings the mother may have had.

[Ken Burch]

8. Yet the "hunting down" jokes, if you'll pardon the expression, KILLED

with the studio audience.

I wonder if Dave would've let it run if those particular jokes had bombed. Perhaps it spooked him that HIS audience loved that part of the routine and at some level he feared that would tie that too closely to him.

Then again, in terms of the "times have changed" aspect if you did that routine today, the biggest complaints would be about the "Daddy's Roomate" jokes.

[sandnsea]

9. Yes, there was that too

Which would have had significant backlash, even then. And maybe Dave felt it wasn't helpful to advance that garbage when there was dadt and doma hovering around. I can see a lot of reasons he cut the piece. It seemed like if you could let one thing go, then out came something else. But it was funny and made the point about gay hypocrisy quite well.

[RoyGBiv]

11. Laughing ...

Stand-up always plays better in person than with the television audience, and Dave was somewhat obsessed with the television audience's reaction to him, especially during this time.

Recall this was also around the time of the NBC/CBS/Leno/et al dealings, all of which left Dave in a bit of limbo about it all.

[RoyGBiv]

10. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

Still makes people cringe. (referencing Kennison ... I think it was him who did that bit)

I'm surprised by what took place only because it's Dave, and like Hicks himself said expressing his surprise, Dave was cutting edge. But then Dave was in a different position in the early 90s than he is now, and he for some reason took a slightly more conservative -- meaning cautious -- turn in those years.

Whatever the case, it's heartening to see someone use their power in a positive way.

[KT2000]

2. That was very real

and touching. They were both honest with each other and like you said - set an example.

Bill Hicks was really funny. I can see why it may have seemed too much for the early 90s though. He boldly hit all the hot spots.

That was a high point in television.

[Syrinx]

3. the standup seemed anticlimactic

After all these years hearing about the "lost" Bill Hicks appearance, I was kind of disappointed. It didn't match what I had built up in my mind.

But, I agree. Both Dave and Mrs. Hicks handled it well.

[Ken Burch]

4. Then again, if there'd ever been a Beatles reunion concert, that would have been a letdown too.

(even when all four of them were still around).

Still, it's nice that this was attended to. And if Paul and Ringo showed up at my place and wanted to jam I'd damn sure let 'em in.

[Syrinx]

5. I don't disagree

And Paul and John came really close to showing up on Lorne Michaels' doorstep. That would've been really cool.

[Syrinx]

6. on reflection, that was Dave's best interview in a bit

He is one of the better interviewers on television. I get excited when I finally hear he's going to interview someone that's not an actor.

[Ken Burch]

7. He let himself be real in the interview. He didn't try to slide by on glibness

as he has done on some other occasions.

And I think he was fully prepared for(and possibly expecting)Bill's mom to tell him to go Cheney himself.

[EFerrari]

12. I never liked Letterman as much as I did last night.

:)