Billy Connolly Tells Just About the Funniest Story Ever
One of the most perfect moments, and biggest laughs, in the history of TV talk shows. From 'The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder' in 1998. More info below -
________________________
Back story, for those who are interested:
I was a fan of Tom Snyder all through his stint on 'The Late Late Show' on CBS in the 1990s, and even back when he did NBC's 'Tomorrow Show' in the 1970s. The context here is that, during all that stretch of time (and even today), flatulence was a subject well beyond the bounds of acceptable taste for mainstream American TV, even in late night -- most shows and most performers, even lowbrow types, are too leery of being pegged as grossly sophomoric to ever touch it. Notice that at no time does Tom ever let the word 'fart' slip his own lips -- this is not normally something you'd see brought up on TV at all, let alone with the bluntness in play in this clip.
But Tom did have a soft spot for fart humor, and he was unusual in having the self-confidence and trust in his audience to let it be revealed now and then. Very occasionally, he might make an amused reference to backstage happenings involving a crew member 'breaking wind' -- or to his appreciation for the now-little-remembered Belle-Epoque 'fartiste' Le Petomane -- but he always did so with the extra dollop of caution you might affect when touching on such a hugely unclassy subject.
Then on this particular night, along came Billy Connolly, and with his total lack of inhibition, he blew the lid off this guilty pleasure.
Tom's stage manager was a guy named Mark Kennedy, who is the dude you can hear cracking up in the background. His off-camera cackles and interactions with Tom were part of the show's charm. As Billy strolls so offhandedly and fearlessly into this subject, you can see Tom sharing sideways glances again and again with Kennedy -- as if acknowledging that this is something they've always had fun joking about crudely between themselves, but never with such disregard for decorum on network TV.
In the course of these magical three minutes, Tom winds up momentarily casting aside his concern for decorum (Ah, the hell with it, this is just too much fun!) -- and by the end, he's telling a fart joke himself, and leaning forward in anticipation as Billy tells the coronation story.
.
HSN | The Monday Night Show with Adam Freeman 07.09.2018 - 08 PM
Don't miss a moment of the fun every Monday night from 7pm to 9pm ET only on HSN and HSN.com. #n# Prices shown on the previously recorded video may not represent the current price. View hsn.com to view the current selling price.
Prices shown on the previously recorded video may not represent the current price. View hsn.com to view the current selling price.SHOP NOW
The Great Gildersleeve: Fishing at Grass Lake / Bronco the Broker / Sadie Hawkins Dance
Premiering on August 31, 1941, The Great Gildersleeve moved the title character from the McGees' Wistful Vista to Summerfield, where Gildersleeve now oversaw his late brother-in-law's estate and took on the rearing of his orphaned niece and nephew, Marjorie (originally played by Lurene Tuttle and followed by Louise Erickson and Mary Lee Robb) and Leroy Forester (Walter Tetley). The household also included a cook named Birdie. Curiously, while Gildersleeve had occasionally spoken of his (never-present) wife in some Fibber episodes, in his own series the character was a confirmed bachelor.
In a striking forerunner to such later television hits as Bachelor Father and Family Affair, both of which are centered on well-to-do uncles taking in their deceased siblings' children, Gildersleeve was a bachelor raising two children while, at first, administering a girdle manufacturing company (If you want a better corset, of course, it's a Gildersleeve) and then for the bulk of the show's run, serving as Summerfield's water commissioner, between time with the ladies and nights with the boys. The Great Gildersleeve may have been the first broadcast show to be centered on a single parent balancing child-rearing, work, and a social life, done with taste and genuine wit, often at the expense of Gildersleeve's now slightly understated pomposity.
Many of the original episodes were co-written by John Whedon, father of Tom Whedon (who wrote The Golden Girls), and grandfather of Deadwood scripter Zack Whedon and Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog).
The key to the show was Peary, whose booming voice and facility with moans, groans, laughs, shudders and inflection was as close to body language and facial suggestion as a voice could get. Peary was so effective, and Gildersleeve became so familiar a character, that he was referenced and satirized periodically in other comedies and in a few cartoons.