Letterman - Bill Hicks

[BabyLuvWhatley]

Last night Dave had Bil Hick's mom on the show. They talked about and showed the set that Bill did not long before he died. Dave had cut the set from the show due to content, not knowing Bil had cancer, making Dave fell bad about it after Bill Died.

Check it out in 3 parts.

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[ToiletCrusher]

that is awesome. Letterman is aces in my book.

[Reynolds]

Did he died?

[ToiletCrusher]

Did he die?

fixed.

and yes, Bill Hicks died of cancer.

[drjoek]

That was great
Loved Bill Hicks
His mom did a real nice job and Dave is genuinely moved

[foodcourtdruide]

What an incredibly authentic moment. That was really classy of Letterman, completely admitted he was at fault and replayed Bill's set.

[Gvac]

Bill Hicks always reminds me of Mel Brooks' character in "History Of The World" when he describes his profession as "stand up philosopher."

I can definitely see why Dave pulled the segment, though. Hicks talking about putting a shotgun in the mouth and blowing away several celebrities might have seemed a bit over the top, especially 16 years ago.

Still funny as hell, though.

[TheMojoPin]

Not one of Bill's better sets by any means, but still a very cool gesture by Dave.

[moochcassidy]

yea i suppose he did the right thing. takes a man to admit hes wrong and all.

still fuck him

[hammersavage]

Genuine class move by Letterman even if it was 16 years too late.

[beachbum]

It was the right thing do do but it was a supreme douche move to cut that set from the show to begin with.

[TheMojoPin]

It was the right thing do do but it was a supreme douche move to cut that set from the show to begin with.

Is it? He had had Hicks on a bunch of times, he would have certainly had him on again if Bill had been willing to come back, and it's not like he knew Hicks was dying or even that he was sick. In the end it's his call as to what gets cut, and given his show and the audience and the era, a bunch of riffs about killing celebrities and abortion isn't necessarily going to fly and probably just end up being more problems than they're worth.

[epo]

As I seem to remember it this was at the peak of the "moral" debate about abortion and CBS had taken a bunch of cash from pro-life groups for advertising...hence putting the Letterman Show in an awful spot.

On the Hicks DVD "Bill Hicks - Live!", Letterman was interviewed and admitted then that cutting Bill's set was the largest mistake of his career.

I understand why Letterman cut it, but it was very large of him to bring it back.

[moochcassidy]

In the end it's his call as to what gets cut

And Letterman just admitted that it was a bad call.

He wasnt justifying his decision, he was apologising for his mistake.

[biozombie]

Thanks for posting that, I didn't think I'd ever get to see that set, not that I haven't heard any of that material before, but it's cool to see what Letterman cut out just the same.

[TheMojoPin]

And Letterman just admitted that it was a bad call.

He wasnt justifying his decision, he was apologising for his mistake.

It's a mistake in hindsight because of what happened to Hicks shortly thereafter. In the context of him having this huge show with a ton of national attention and not wanting to deal with the prolonged headaches of a (let's face it) shitty set that largely dealt with abortion due to the political climate at the time, it makes sense why he made the (at the time) relatively minor deicison to cut the set.

I fucking love Bill Hicks, but that's one of his weakest sets I've ever seen and I totally get why Dave cut it at the time given the larger problems it would have caused. We're just looking at it through the hindsight of Hicks dying suddenly and way too soon. It's not like Letterman was banning him from the show or doing it maliciously.

Obviously, that's not saying Dave did or didn't make a mistake, but I think he was an "asshole" or a "douche" for doing what he did at the time. Musical and comedic acts get cut from those shows all the time.

[SP1!]

How does Paul Shaffer not know who eric johnson is?

[Badinia]

I actually thought the bit held up better than I thought it would. It was sweet that Dave tried to clear it up with Mary.

[TheMojoPin]

On a somewhat related tangent, I've never seen a TV clip of Hicks that I didn't think was mediocre or worse. His albums and other audio-only clips of him doing standup? Fucking amazing. Something just seems "off" to me whenever he knew he was performing for a camera as opposed to just an audience in a club or on a record.

[Sleeves]

very cool...

Dave should do a whole string of apology shows where they show bits he vetoed.

[TheMojoPin]

very cool...

Dave should do a whole string of apology shows where they show bits he vetoed.

Or at least let Harvey Pekar back on the show.

[moochcassidy]

It's a mistake in hindsight because of what happened to Hicks shortly thereafter. In the context of him having this huge show with a ton of national attention and not wanting to deal with the prolonged headaches of a (let's face it) shitty set that largely dealt with abortion due to the political climate at the time, it makes sense why he made the (at the time) relatively minor deicison to cut the set.

I fucking love Bill Hicks, but that's one of his weakest sets I've ever seen and I totally get why Dave cut it at the time given the larger problems it would have caused. We're just looking at it through the hindsight of Hicks dying suddenly and way too soon. It's not like Letterman was banning from the show or doing this maliciously.


The decison to cut wasnt about politics, quality of the set or malice. It was about Dave's fear and greed. He valued his pro life sponsors over Hick's set and career.

Wether he was forced by CBS ( the excuse given to Hicks by a letterman producer ) or hes honest that it was a pre-emptive move based on his own 'insecurities' ( and he was being a coward by getting his staff to lie on the phone ) it was a selfish move that spooked other mainstream shows. The fact that he died soon after is the only reason that Letterman feels guilty.

Dave was a selfish scumbag then when he lied about whos decison it was and hes a coward now that he still wont admit why the bit was cut. but thats the business hes in.

[Tenbatsuzen]

The decison to cut wasnt about politics, quality of the set or malice. It was about Dave's fear and greed. He valued his pro life sponsors over Hick's set and career.

Wether he was forced by CBS ( the excuse given to Hicks by a letterman producer ) or hes honest that it was a pre-emptive move based on his own 'insecurities' ( and he was being a coward by getting his staff to lie on the phone ) it was a selfish move that spooked other mainstream shows. The fact that he died soon after is the only reason that Letterman feels guilty.

Dave was a selfish scumbag then when he lied about whos decison it was and hes a coward now that he still wont admit why the bit was cut. but thats the business hes in.

I think you're forgetting the time frame. At the time (October 1993), He was only 2 months in to his CBS gig. Definitely feel this was a CBS call, empowered by letterman.

Yes, he was afraid of losing sponsors, but he's in a new show after a hugely public power struggle to get the Tonight Show (and failing). The last thing he needed was a PR nightmare.

[TheMojoPin]

I think you're forgetting the time frame. At the time (October 1993), He was only 2 months in to his CBS gig. Definitely feel this was a CBS call, empowered by letterman.

Yes, he was afraid of losing sponsors, but he's in a new show after a hugely public power struggle to get the Tonight Show (and failing). The last thing he needed was a PR nightmare.

Exactly.

And why is Letterman supposed to "value Hicks' career" over his own show? Sure, it's all well and good to want these altruistic media figures that always put the needs of the talent ahead of everything else, but that's not realistic. It sucks that Hicks got cut, but that's just life. Talking about Letterman like he's some bullying scumbg coward over something that hapens all the time in showbiz seems a bit overreactionary. Letterman's obligation is to his show, not Bill Hicks.

And it's not even like anyone's necessarily lying when they said that CBS ultimately forced the cut. Letterman is saying that in the end the decision rested with him, but it's not like this happened in a vacuum. The decision likely came to a head because CBS forced the issue and it was his call whether or not he gets cut. He could have fought it...but why would he have done that? Like Tenbats pointed out, he's just coming off the late night hooplah. The last thing he needed at the time was some drawn out, bullshit controversey over a comedian's set. He'd had Hicks on plenty of times before and likely would have again, but at that specific moment things devloped as they did that made cutting the set something that seemed like a smart move. He didn't attack Hicks, he didn't try to blacklist him or blame him or whatever or even make a big deal out of it. It just happened.

And let's be honest, this wouldn't have spooked "mainstream shows" that were lining up to book Hicks, because they weren't doing that in the first place. Letterman had been the exception in having a show like his and repeatedly getting a guy like Hicks on the air.

[Tenbatsuzen]

I think another moment that was a possible cringe moment wasn't the abortion bit or the hunting celebs bit, but the moment where Hicks said homosexuality was disgusting and the crowd started applauding.

Also, in the time frame, it was part of the "guest war" between Leno and Letterman. I'm not sure if Kushnick was involved in that or not - I think she was gone by then. Since a lot of power players in Hollywood are gay (one of the biggest rules in entertainment, especially if you want to keep your job, is NOT TO MAKE GAY JOKES) is the perception that Letterman and his audience is homophobic.

Just a thought, I have nothing to back it up, but just saying.

[evolution5v1]

I liked The Larry Sanders Show episode based on the incident.

[Tenbatsuzen]

Two more things -

1) Let's be honest, dying was the best thing to happen to Hicks' career...

2) It's eerie - absolutely eerie - how much he looks like Zevon in that clip.

[TheMojoPin]

Two more things -

1) Let's be honest, dying was the best thing to happen to Hicks' career...

2) It's eerie - absolutely eerie - how much he looks like Zevon in that clip.

I was thinking if Zevon and Clerks-era Kevin Smith had a baby.

[Donnie Iris]

How does Paul Shaffer not know who eric johnson is?

Yeah, was that a bit?

[Knowledged_one]

Im still trying to figure out how letterman was being greedy by wanting to keep his sponsors

[drjoek]

Or at least let Harvey Pekar back on the show.

Harvey was warned not to do what was going to get him in trouble and couldn't help his self destruction.
I wouldn't mind seing him come back though

[TheMojoPin]

Harvey was warned not to do what was going to get him in trouble and couldn't help his self destruction.
I wouldn't mind seing him come back though

I was hoping he'd show up when his movie came out, but alas...

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So cringe-y:

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[Tenbatsuzen]

Im still trying to figure out how letterman was being greedy by wanting to keep his sponsors

Yeah... Letterman is paid by CBS who is in turn paid by the sponsors... Letterman doesn't have direct control who advertises on the show.

I am pretty sure that a majority of the people who work on Late Show are Worldwide Pants employees, not CBS employees... but Worldwide Pants is funded by Letterman's CBS check.

Kind of like how Howard's deal with Sirius works.

[cougarjake13]

what was the reason for putting it out now ??

[PapaBear]

That's actually the first time I've seen Bill Hicks. That was great. I always assumed he OD'd.

[STC-Dub]

That bit held up real well after 16 years.

[Slumbag]

15 Year Anniversary of his death.
Today.
Right now.
http://www.timboucher.com/journal/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/bill-hicks.jpg

[epo]

Some thoughts of rock n' roll from Bill.....

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