Greatest TV Talkshow Moments

This just came to me. Post any great or memorable TV talkshow moments here. Videos welcome.


Here's one I remember from when I was a kid. Bad News Brown on Arsenio.


Here's another when Queer Nation tried to go off on Arsenio for not having more gay guests.

Your question instantly brought to mind Geraldo Rivera's exploration of what was speculated to be the site of Al Capone's treasure. I was a kid in chicago when this aired, and I recall the buzz about it and watching with my parents. It was not directly part of his day time show, but still fits, I guess. From Wiki:
In April 1986, Rivera hosted the syndicated special The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault, an ill-conceived adventure where Rivera excavated what he had been told was the site of Al Capone's buried treasure trove. Rivera broadcast live as the site was excavated, fully expecting to find a store of the former gangster's wealth. The show was heavily advertised, particularly on Chicago's WGN television station. A medical examiner was brought along for the excavation in case any dead bodies were excavated. The show was on air for several hours, displacing regularly scheduled programming, as Rivera's team penetrated the vault he was sure would yield the famed loot. Ultimately, the vault was found to contain a few broken bottles. Rivera held one of these bottles aloft for the camera and excitedly stated that it had once contained "bootleg moonshine gin".

Marc, that was a great one. I am actually beginning Rosie's book that chronicles her time on the show, and have not gotten to this part, but I am sure this is in there.

I knew somebody'd mention the Rosie/Hasselbeck catfight. That's the one that drove Rosie away from the show and left her seat open for Whoopi right? (I like Whoopi better)

Rosie claims to have only wanted to sign on for a year. It was so obviously the wrong fit for her. I think that she looked at Barbara as a mentor/icon and was not really considering all the factors when she chose to do the show.

^^^^IDK what factors there really were. But I don't miss her. But I remember that moment, and it was a classic. xD

I hope nobody minds that we have gone on a tangent here.

The factors were that she really was only used to being her own boss. Having to answer to Barbara and Bill was not within her comfort zone. Also, she is the one who implemented the audience gift bags and giveaways. She did not like the applause light or discussing what to discuss before Hot Topics segments.

I am on the fence with Rosie...I want to like her, but sometimes she is so abrasive. I really can't stand Whoppie. So, I hardly ever watch.

^^^^I never watch anyway! lol

What about that Oprah interview Tom Cruise did when he was acting like he was crazy? Jumping on her couch and everything? My friends and i were watching together and we were totally turned off by it, His behaviour was so over the top that we boycotted anything to do with him for the longest time. I'm not even an Oprah fan - not really - but we all liked Tom Cruise and my one roomie heard he was going to be on. It was that interview that really made people suspect the rumours about him being manic depressive.

Damn, I can't find it...but my FAVORITE talk show moment is when Uncle Luke and the 2 Live Crew went on a talk show (I think it was Geraldo, I'm not sure) and performed "I Wanna Rock" in front of a bunch of old ass white people. The sheer look on their faces were HILARIOUS. And what really made it even funnier is the fact that Luke and the crew didn't give a fuck. They were performing the actual dirty version and were saying all the curse words and the whole nine. And Luke was smirking and laughing throughout the whole performance like 'yeah, I know you people never heard no shit like this before! I know I'm shocking the hell out of you. Look at me!'. And the people in the audience were so shocked and they were looking like 'look at these black dudes saying all these vulgarities!'. Then Luke had the nerve to wanna do crowd participation. I was CRYING. Damn, I wondered where I can find that footage. I definitely gotta save that one.

Is this the video you are talking about? This is a different song, but this is them on Donahue and it was a big talk back in the day.

TSJFan4Ever wrote:What about that Oprah interview Tom Cruise did when he was acting like he was crazy? Jumping on her couch and everything? My friends and i were watching together and we were totally turned off by it, His behaviour was so over the top that we boycotted anything to do with him for the longest time. I'm not even an Oprah fan - not really - but we all liked Tom Cruise and my one roomie heard he was going to be on. It was that interview that really made people suspect the rumours about him being manic depressive.

That Tom Cruise thing was pretty out there. The relationship between him and Holmes was so strange in the beginning. Not that it isn't at all today, but at the start, it really seemed faked to advance them in thier careers. Remember how he acted in that Today Show interview with Matt Lauer?

RedBedroom wrote:


Is this the video you are talking about? This is a different song, but this is them on Donahue and it was a big talk back in the day.

THAT'S IT, THAT'S IT, THAT'S IT!!!!!!! RedBedroom.... You just made my day with that one. I could not find that shit on Youtube because I had the song mixed up ("I Wanna Rock" is my favorite, lol) but that's the one I was talking about.

Still priceless to this day.

LOL, I love the woman's face at 1:33. She looks like she just smelled something foul! Glad to have made your day!!

Joy and Whoopi walking off The View, because of O'Reilly's anti-Mosque comments.

Jim Carrey went off on Letterman.