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In 1993, David Letterman made the controversial choice not to air a stand-up set by legendary late comic Bill Hicks, bowing to pressure from network execs who said it would be offensive. Friday night, Letterman had Hicks’s mother, Mary, on as a guest, apologized to her, and showed the banned set for the first time. In case you missed it, here it is:
Letterman thought the references would be dated, but thanks to Miley, Billy Ray Cyrus jokes might never go out of style.
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Are all cultural commentators required to put “legendary” in front of “Bill Hicks”? I don’t think I’ve heard any other word used to describe him.
How ’bout fucking awesome…
how does that work for ya.
Congrats Videogum, you seem to have been bumped from mere web video/television/movie blog to “cultural commentators.”
OK, next time it’ll be “journalists”.
nothing wrong with it? i mean, i can’t say i found the “let’s kill people” show idea all that funny…
This isn’t funny at all. This is really not funny. This is awful.
sit down bill haters. you obviously don’t know what a comedian is. he is described as legendary for a reason. if you don’t want to go look up why then you don’t deserve to comment on anything he’s done.
Bill HIcks is the Most legendary comedian of all time. This is hilarious shit
That was so funny! Like Dave said, “It’s not dated at all.” hate people who don’t think he’s funny, because the man clearly was. People think he’s so overrated, I still stand by my thought that he is completely underrated. I remember years ago, around 2002 or something…there used to be this channel on cable that showed some odd stuff…they had a whole month where they showed banned things…they had shown a documentary on him. I was 12 at the time, and I found his routines so funny, find them funnier now. There is this one joke he says that I clearly remember laughing at, the man, the kid and the flag burning…so hilarious. Bill Hicks deserves all the praise he deserves…LEGEND.
As Bill would no doubt say..
Ain’t y’all missing the point, I think you are….
Why would Dave take this particular time to take this opportunity to wipe the one stain on his career by asking Bills mom on to the show to validate his apology and show that footage.
Wouldn’t be because his production team saw a vastly more liberal entity in the Whitehouse after Bush and his right wing pro life conservatives so thought well if we get this in early it can only reflect well on Dave?
Just a thought, reflect and ponder.
I agree that Hicks was a great comedian. So many people talked him down then & still to this day. It’s funny how people can look at things so “Black & White” They couldn’t see past the part where he joked about killing somebody?
Come on.
He was a damn good & greatly dedicated comedian. A legend for sure.
I’ve heard A LOT of his stuff & if recall correctly; Bill HIcks was under the impression that the network called off the set, not Letterman himself. It’s pretty fucked up that someone BIll considered to be a friend, called off his set and tried to make amends for it 15 years later.
people who dont like bill hicks are often the people who think that dane cook is a genius: ignorant simpletons.
now, i like dane cook, but there is no question that Bill hicks is in a realm of his own when it comes to intelligent social and existential commentary, he is one of few entertainers who knows a truth and feels compelled to share that with the world, and the genius of him is that he can make you laugh about this world and all its problems.
Did David Letterman or anybody else involve ever reveal WHY they cancelled that performance? Bill Hicks believed it was because a ‘pro-life’ commercial was scheduled to be aired in the interval, but the official line from Letterman & the network was at the time very vague. Without a decent explanation the apology is meaningless.
As for the performance itself, I don’t think it does Bill justice. He was never anywhere near his best when his material had to be edited & censored…